TN50: Youths urged to share ideas, suggestions as to what they want for the country
KOTA KINABALU: With the 2050 National Transformation ( TN50) aspiration in full force, youths are urged to share ideas and suggestions as to what they wish to see the country achieve by that time.
TN50 ambassador and entrepreneur Benreza Hezery Uzair said the nation’s youths must actively play their role in shaping the future they will inevitably inherit.
“When Vision 2020 was set in motion, all agendas came from higher authorities. But now, it’s different.
“TN50 is not about policies that the government is throwing at you; you have the voice. Youths, especially, have a huge way of contributing.
“This is their time. TN50 should be a great platform for them. I hope they’ll take advantage of it,” he said.
Speaking to The Borneo Post after addressing University Malaysia Sabah ( UMS) freshmen during orientation night on Tuesday, Benreza added that youths must also be prepared to face the challenges and consequences that come with their aspirations.
“TN50 is something new. That said, some of the aspirations that we wish to achieve might not seem realistic to some people, which creates scepticism.
“A lot of people are sceptical over the future of our country. I think it’s because of prevalent issues that are happening right now, which we see in our social wellbeing and in jobs. These are strong issues that youths, especially, are affected by.”
He further encouraged the younger generation to dig deeper info on current affairs in order to fully understand what they are talking about in order to conceive informed ideas.
Benreza added that aspirations for the country can be channelled through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram under the handle @ myTN50, and that the collection of aspirations is an ongoing process.
“Right now, you will see a lot of engagement from government agencies, which is something that the Prime Minister wants to do after the end of TN50’s third phase, that is the submission of the final document from the findings of experts on whether or not the aspirations are achievable.
“Once that is completed, everything will be compiled into a final document to be given to the PM maybe in November or December this year, and then beginning 2018, granted the same government is in power, whatever is in the document will become government policies going towards 2050,” he said.
Earlier during orientation, fellow TN50 ambassador Arthur Joseph Kurup explained the significance of youths’ involvement in the national transformation initiative.
“This is the process in which we collect ideas and these ideas must come from youths because in the following years, you will take over the helm of governing the country. What we want now is for you to tell us what you want so that it can be included into the national development policy.
“This is important because we must have a continuation from Vision 2020. We must hear from you so that we can make plans,” he said to the new students, most of whom admitted they had not heard of TN50.
Arthur revealed that 1.4 million youths have been reached thus far with 52,000 aspirations collected through ministry programmes and dialogues, to name a few.
He also said 80 per cent of aspirations so far related to six topics, broadly, including workforce and jobs, skills and capabilities, mindset and behaviour, government and civil service, safeguards and crossborder issues. The Sabah United People’s Party ( PBRS) deputy president encouraged youths to get involved by following the news, attending events and offering ideas.