Image credit: New Straits Times
MIRI (Oct 13): Improving the economy and having more job opportunities are among the people’s hopes for the federal government that will be at the helm after the 15th general election (GE15).
According to Kinsajasa Sdn Bhd managing director Dr Richard Will, the economy has not been improving in the past several years.
“It’s very sad to see the state of our economy – it’s not stagnant, but it’s also not improving.
“We can also see so many people going jobless and constantly looking for vacancies.
“As far as Miri in concerned, there are many former offshore workers who have been through the worst due to the deterioration of economy, and also due to Covid-19, where they lost their homes and had to sell their car just to make ends meet,” he told The Borneo Post here.
In this regard, he expressed hope that the new federal administration after the GE15 would do proper planning to improve the economy and increase job opportunities.
On Rural Transformation Programme (RTP), Richard, who hailed from a village in Marudi, wanted the government to push for better development in the rural areas in Sarawak.
“Some parts of these rural villages have difficulties when it comes to clean water supply, communication means like roads and also telco services.
“These are essential parts of our lives, but there are still some ‘kampung’ (village) people who do not have such privileges,” he added.
For Lee Jun Tak, he felt that the severe lack of job opportunities had pushed many young graduates to find their own way of surviving the real world.
In this respect, many had found help in entrepreneurship, he observed.
“Still, even though we are working hard in figuring out things on our own, we hope to get some help from the government, either funding or training courses that we can afford to take in order to upskill ourselves,” said the 24-year-old bread maker.
Lee, like many of his peers, decided to venture into business.
“I would consider myself lucky because I got to start with something that I was interested in and I got to stay with my family.
“My other friends sought opportunities elsewhere, outside of Malaysia with better pay, but in the process, it made them lose interest to return home.
“The government must look at ways to see such needs. We, the youngsters, don’t expect money to be given to us just like that; what we need is the opportunity so that we can sustain ourselves and our future,” he said, adding that as a new voter, he was very much looking forward to casting his ballot for the first time, hoping that his choice would contribute to changing Malaysia for the better.
Another young voter Vivian Lim, 23, also stated having more job opportunities and a stable economy as her wishes.
“The young generation do not expect to be spoon-fed. I, for one, definitely look forward to Malaysia having a more stable politics that in turn, would stabilise the country’s economy.
“Regardless of race, we are all the children of Malaysia – definitely, we hope for equality in opportunities in education, safety, legal rights and job opportunities.
“It is only with these elements that our country can prosper,” said the officer worker.
Source: https://www.theborneopost.com/2022/10/13/sarawakians-wish-to-have-better-economy-more-job-prospects-after-ge15/