‘Pemadam youth clubs must have good modules to attract members’

SIBU: The proposal of National Association for the Prevention of Drug Abuse ( Pemadam) to establish Pemadam youth clubs in secondary schools must be complemented with good module to entice youths.

Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said t he proposal was crucial to prevent such clubs from becoming boring and eventually dying a natural death.

He hoped the proposed club would not be just about creating awareness on dangers posed by drugs as existing youth clubs in schools could also perform such roles.

Abdul Karim said this following Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed’s recent disclosure that Pemadam youth clubs be set up in secondary schools to curb the spread of drug abuse.

Nur Jazlan reportedly said the formation of the club, to take place by end of this year, was in line with the ministry’s fight against drug abuse.

Nur Jazlan, who is also Pemadam president, said the club aimed to expose students to the dangers of drugs, and would first focus on Form 4 and 5 students to observe its effectiveness before proceeding to the lower secondary level ( Form 1 to 3).

The deputy minister was further quoted as saying if the club succeeded at the secondary school level, Pemadam would then extend the club to primary schools.

Abdul Karim, who is Pemadam state chairman, said: “National Pemadam’s idea of a youth club is good but they must come up with a good module which would make the club exciting for the youth and members.

“If it is to create awareness and hatred for drug, I believe all youth clubs in secondary schools can also do it. Existing school youth clubs like Scouts, Boys Brigade and Red Crescent can do this same role and they have existing modules and activities in place as they are already very structured and have been in existence for years.

“The proposed Pemadam club is a new creation/idea and if we want to make it ‘attractive’ and able to attract youths, it must have a specific module as well as interesting programmes.

“Nur Jazlan needs to explain the mechanism and concept of this Pemadam youth club or it will end up doing roles which Pemadam are presently carrying out at schools... creating awareness of the dangers of drug abuse,” he said.

Meanwhile, according to National Anti- drugs Agency’s statistics, the 22,643 new addicts detected across the country last year, constituted 74.32 per cent of the total 30,465 addicts, including repeated cases.