Kota Kinabalu: Minister in the Prime Minister Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan urged Sabahan graduates and job seekers to seize the more than 6,000 vacancies and training opportunities on offer at a two-day Open Interview 1Malaysia Training Scheme (SL1M) at the Chancellory Hall, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), beginning Saturday.The opportunities are being offered by more than 40 companies from various industries in the programme.He said they should make time and effort to take part in the SL1M created by the Prime Minister so as to have a pool of quality human capital and experts who are dedicated, creative and motivated to develop the nation together with the government.
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"SL1M is a programme which I am responsible for under the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department that was set up in June 2011 to help our graduates increase their marketability level."The programme is brought to Sabah for the fifth time to bring ample jobs and training opportunities to all job seekers irrespective of their qualifications and backgrounds in the State.Launching the State-level Open Interview SL1M here, Saturday, Rahman said more than 140,000 youths including graduates have benefitted directly and indirectly via the SL1M programme as of December.For this year, he said about 25,000 graduates are being targeted and is confident of achieving the figure based on his experience in attending the programme in several places in the country.
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"Each time I come to attend this SL1M programme anywhere in the country, thousands of people would come and the response is always unexpected. Even in the programme to be held here for two days, about 10,000 visitors including graduates and job seekers are attending until Sunday (Feb 18)."I can assure you that the Government will continue to enhance our efforts to help all of you (graduates and job seekers) to get the chance of acquiring essential skills and experiences that would boost your self-marketability to be employed.
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"Bear in mind that this programme only comes once a year in one place and all you have to do is to be prepared and be here." Rahman who is also Kota Belud MP said outstanding response on the SL1M programme is not only from the visitors, graduates and job seekers but also from the industries as more than 40 companies from various sectors are looking for employees here.This means, he said the State's economic level is growing and its economic size has proven to expand from RM410 million in 1963 to RM73.97 billion in 2016 as well as the average income of per household in Sabah had also increased up to RM5,354 in 2016.Rahman called on Sabahan graduates and job seekers taking part in the SL1M programme not to use such platform to migrate or move to the peninsula.Instead, he said he wanted them to be better than their friends in the peninsula as they work harder and committed in their jobs so as to prove that they can be better than anybody else.He also reminded them that getting the jobs via the SL1M programme is not only for their own wellbeing and elevating living standard of their families but they also have the responsibilities of contributing their expertise and skills to develop Sabah and be ahead of the peninsula."Sabah is still lagging behind in development and economic aspect, and thus we need quality human capital among our youths to complement the government efforts to further develop our beloved Sabah."If the peninsula is crawling (in its development progress), then we in Sabah need to be ahead of them by walking but if the peninsula is on walking mode, then we have to run to go forward."Likewise if the peninsula is running, then we in Sabah have to fly high and to grow faster than the peninsula so as to narrow or close the development gap," he said.To a question, Rahman said the SL1M programme certainly helped to lower the employment rate and poverty level in Sabah."In coming years, I will ask the SL1M to start matching the undergraduates with proper job matching before they graduated which will save their time and energy. Actually this is being done in the universities but not in a big scale."By doing so, our industries would able to employ them before taken by other companies from neighbouring countries that often come to the university not only in Sabah but also in the country to scout for educated and capable undergraduates workers to work for them," Rahman said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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