Kota Kinabalu: Youths in the State can no longer depend on the traditional way of finding employment as there are less jobs being created in the market.State Youth and Sports Minister Frankie Poon said this is the reality they have to face today but one which can, in fact, work to their own advantage to still earn a decent living."With access to higher education and training institutes becoming easier, our youths are able to gain academic qualifications and certifications.
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"While this is positive, we however face with the issue of seeing less and less jobs being created in the market."The reality is that we can no longer depend on the traditional way of employment, that is getting employed by the private or public sectors for a living," he said in his keynote address at the "Youth Unemployment: Entrepreneurship as Valuable Alternative Source of Job Creation & Economic Dynamism for Youth in Sabah" seminar. His speech was delivered by his representative Mas Safiah Awang Mahali.
Poon said given the situation, youths in the State are encouraged to be self-employed by considering entrepreneurship as a way to make a living.He pointed out that entrepreneurship provides an avenue for young people to discover their entrepreneurial skills.
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He said in the process, some of them may even be surprised about their capabilities to succeed."As being proven globally, venturing into entrepreneurship encourages innovation, creativity and risk-tasking. This would make the journey more exciting, challenging and could provide better job satisfaction among today's generation," he said.
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On the part of the Government, he said it has launched numerous programmes and schemes to support them, particularly those that would boost Small and Medium Enterprises' activities.He also said one of the areas they could venture into is tourism entrepreneurship, citing several successful cases such as one initiative in Kiulu which has successfully provided permanent jobs to about 350 residents.Another example, he said, is the Arnab Village in Ranau, owned by a 28-year-old university graduate who started out with only RM5,000 but has managed to earn RM300,000 in ticket sales over time.
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"Success stories such as these should inspire more youths to venture into entrepreneurship," Poon added.The one-day seminar was organised by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and in collaboration with University Malaysia Sabah. - Leonard Alaza