Budget 2022 wish list: Sabah youth want more skills training programmes

SANDAKAN – The youth in Sabah are hoping that Budget 2022 will provide more allocation for vocational and skills training programmes in the state. 

Chong Siau Lim, 26, a reporter based here, said that she has been witnessing her friends losing their jobs due to the pandemic, reminding her that she needs to equip herself with other skills in order to be ready for the possibility of getting laid off, too. 

Skills training in the state, she said, is very minimal, not only for youth but for people of all ages who need reskilling to find jobs. 

“The government should provide more allocation for reskilling programmes, especially when such programmes are not available in Sabah. If they are (available) they have not been promoted widely because my peers and I have not heard of it. 

“Such training must also include skills that are on demand today, such as skills related to information technology, in line with the digitalised era that we live in today,” she said. 

Another youth from Kota Kinabalu, Yvonne Sofea Chong, 22, said that she has been struggling to get a job since she graduated from college with a Diploma in Graphic Design two years ago. 

She said being trained in other skills will help her have a better chance at getting a job. 

“Despite setting a low expected salary, I still cannot find a job. Businesses have been closing down. I found a job as a general worker in a factory in Kota Kinabalu last year, but the factory had to retrench its workers due to the pandemic. 

“Companies also prefer hiring people with a specific set of skills, which we would be able to acquire if there were more skills training available,” she told The Vibes. 

A 28-year-old clerk based here, Aliza Alawi, said that it is close to impossible for her to own a house because there is a strict requirement for housing loans and that properties in Sabah are very expensive. 

“Can you imagine that a house in Sabah is either the same price or more expensive than those in Peninsular Malaysia when Sabah has so much land? 

“The banks will also evaluate our income, but how much could I have earned during this difficult time?”

She also said that it is very difficult for youth to start small businesses, as the cost of doing so, including depositing rent for a shop, is very expensive. 

“Needless to say, business loans are also not easy to get, what more when you are just starting from the bottom,” she added. 

Meanwhile, a gym owner based here, Mohd Fadzlee Asmad, said he hopes that whatever allocation given to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will have minimal red tape as the previous assistance announced by the federal government have yet to reach him and other SME operators. 

“It is very frustrating to see one announcement after another about financial assistance for us, but at the end of the day, we do not get it. For instance, I have applied for one RM1,000 one-off financial assistance but was told that my business was not in the system. 

“It is absolutely absurd. I have a registered trading licence and I don’t understand why the government would make it so difficult to get the assistance that are meant for us,” he said. 

Fadzlee, who is also a father of an 8-month-old baby, said that he has been struggling to keep his gym business going due to closure for almost a year following the pandemic. 

“I had to use my own savings just to keep the business going. I know that I am not alone, and a lot of SME owners are facing the same difficulty. Hence, I hope the government will study the allocation or assistance given to us – make sure that they reach us,” he added. 

In Beaufort, a primary school teacher Lisa Yapp said she hopes for free internet for poor students, and for improvement of basic infrastructure, especially roads. 

“We have roads here that have been damaged for four generations and still not fixed or reconstructed, for example, roads in Kg Binunuk. 

“We see that the Pan Borneo Highway project is ongoing, but there are roads in Sabah that need desperate attention to be fixed, and we hope that Sabah will be allocated more for its basic infrastructure,” she said. 

Hing Dick Khiang, 32, who is also based here, echoed Yapp’s opinion and said the government must first fix all the roads in Sabah. 

“We are not asking for much in the national Budget; we just want the basics like road repairs.

“How is Sabah going to attract investors if we do not even have good roads to connect the districts in the state?” he asked. – The Vibes, October 28, 2021