The Perak Menteri Besar and the State Youth, Sports, Communication and Media Committee Chairman at the press conference.

IPOH, 4 December 2021- Perak Menteri Besar Dato' Seri Saarani Mohamad officiated the Opening of the First Meeting, First Term of the 3rd Perak Youth Assembly Sitting held from 4 – 5 December 2021 at Hotel Casuarina@ Meru, Ipoh.

In his speech, he emphasised on unemployment in Perak and hoped that the assembly would be a platform for the state government to improve the performance of youth.

"According to the Malaysian Labour Force 2020 statistics, the unemployment rate of youths aged 15 to 24 years old increased by 1.5% to 12.0% compared to 10.5% in 2019.

“A total of 314,000 unemployed youths were also recorded in 2020 compared to 295,800 in 2019. Meanwhile, by state, Perak ranked third with 4.8 percent.

“Thus, this sitting is very significant and the best platform for the youths to express their thoughts and debate important and fundamental issues. The combination of ideas from the youths and initiatives implemented by the state government, God willing, can boost the performance of the youths in the state," he said.

The sitting this time comprised 61 youth assembly members, where 59 members were selected by vote to represent their respective constituencies and 2 members were also appointed to represent the Orang Asli community and disabled youths (OKU).

The swearing-in session was conducted by Youth Assembly Deputy Speaker 1 Aswannudin Hariffudin and Youth Assembly Deputy Speaker 2 Muhammad Ariff Zaky Mohd Zolkafly, as well as the Youth Assembly Representatives.

The two Youth Assembly Deputy Speakers will chair the sitting this time as Youth Assembly Speaker Jamilah Zakaria could not attend because she was undergoing quarantine due to close contact with a COVID-19 positive case.

Also present were State Secretary Dato' Ahmad Suaidi Abdul Rahim and State Youth, Sports, Communication and Media Committee Chairman Khairul Shahril Mohamed.

Meanwhile, Disabled Person Special Appointee Norfarrah Syahirah Shaari, 33, told reporters she will be tabling a proposal on the PPE donation programme with disabled people involving the frontliners for empowering the OKU.

“The programme involves 6 OKU workers who will sew PPE shirts as a contribution to hospitals in Perak. This is one of the ways to train OKU sewing skills and be able to improve their standard of living," she said.

Source : Corporate, SUK Perak.