KUCHING: Sarawakian youth are urged to be job creators and not job seekers.

In stating this, Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development (Entrepreneur Development) Deputy Minister Dr Ripin Lamat pointed out that ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a number of youth have found it hard to get a spot in the public and private sectors.

“Therefore, we, in our ministry, strongly encourage the youth to venture into entrepreneurship. It does not matter if you are in the public or private Higher Education Institutions, the entrepreneurship skills need to be honed nonetheless.

“We acknowledge that there is no easy way to be a successful entrepreneur as there are bound to be challenges along the way.

“However, with the will and passion of wanting to succeed in life, the youth should not be afraid in trying to venture in this field even if you had to start selling by the roadside,” he said.

He said this when officiating at the closing ceremony of the National Youth Day 2022 at Stadium Perpaduan Kuching yesterday.

On another matter, he also called on the youth to be more involved with their communities as they (the youth) are the future leaders of the nation and the state.

“It is necessary for them to involve themselves with the veteran leaders (of the associations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and so on) in their area.

“When you involve yourself with the leaders and communities, it will certainly foster a spirit of leadership among yourselves and along the line, you will also be able to produce ideas to develop a quality community,” he said.

As such, Ripin expressed his hope that the vision by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg and Youth, Sports, and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah would be achieved – for the youth to be a quality leader and highly educated.

“I believe that the programmes organised by the ministry both at state and federal levels thus far had given the utmost attention in the development of the youth

“For us in Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), we have a new youth wing 1828 where we welcome youths to be candidates at the state and federal levels. Its establishment shows the important recognition that we have towards the youth.

“With this, I hope that the youth will become successful and high quality leaders, entrepreneurs, or anything that they can be and contribute to our state as a whole in the future,” he said.