KUCHING: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chief whip Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof thanked DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang for his special message to youths in Sarawak.
The Petra Jaya MP, however, reminded Kit Siang that Sarawak had been far ahead of Malaya when it came to putting into practice the ideals of “New Malaysia”.
“Sarawak has always been a model of a tolerant plural society, and we feel this is something that Putrajaya should adapt as a model in any plan to encourage tolerance and social unity.
“But more importantly, we should not limit with just empowering youths with the appropriate tools but also help them to develop the passion for community development, to help them solve problems in an environment that celebrates different cultures, religions and backgrounds,” said Fadillah on Tuesday.
He said youths grew up in different cultural, social, economic, political and technological contexts, with different experiences, ideas and solutions to bring to the table.
“But here lies the problem: We often criticise youths rather than embrace their spirit.
“We fail to acknowledge that youth is an unpredictable age, often exhibiting impulsiveness. It is where we find a school dropout, or someone who could take ownership of the future with the potential to bring about a better society,” he said.
Fadillah said it was the older generation who should take responsibility for the coming generations, and make them fall in queue for making a sustainable future for themselves.
He said youth engagement was close to GPS, who believed it was critical when it came to defending the state’s political and democratic rights.
Kit Siang, in his message, urged Sarawakian youths to spearhead efforts to fight racism and extremism, corruption and build a country that would be a showcase of coexistence between different communities.
He also said: “Malaysia cannot be saved merely by the efforts of a 94-year-old, a 78-year-old and a 72-year-old. If Malaysia is to be saved, we need the energies and idealism of the youths of Malaysia, with the youths in Sarawak playing a pioneering role, to be the driving and sustaining force to realise great dreams for Malaysia.”
