KUALA LUMPUR – The government cannot blame only the Covid-19 pandemic for the lack of good employment opportunities available to fresh graduates, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The opposition leader said he is concerned by a recent survey by the Higher Education Ministry that showed more graduates are earning between RM1,100 and RM1,500 than at any time in the last 10 years.
The report showed that 70% of graduates last year were able to find jobs, with wages below or very near the revised poverty line, he said.
“Equally troubling is that this trend of low wages has been increasing for most of the last decade,” said the Port Dickson MP in a video posted to Facebook.
“The survey is another definitive proof that the Malaysian economy cannot grow and cannot produce meaningful opportunities for our people, unless and until it undertakes much-needed structural reforms.”
He said the required changes include greater transparency in public procurement, increased competition, reforming government-linked companies, and boosting access to quality education nationwide.
The absence of these reforms under the Perikatan Nasional government, coupled with the decline in governance and transparency, has caused an exodus of high-value manufacturing and high-tech businesses from Malaysia, he said.
This bodes ill for the future job prospects of young Malaysians. It is likely that many will seek job opportunities abroad, causing an even greater brain drain that would cripple our economy further.
“That the PN government chided graduates to be grateful that they even have a job shows that it lacks creativity and compassion.”
After a year in power, the PN government has offered zero indication that it has the interest or ability to execute plans to reverse such negative trends, which are increasingly manifest in the Malaysian economy, he said.
“While the proper venue for deliberating these issues is Parliament, PN remains scared of convening the legislative body, despite virtually all other sectors of the Malaysian economy being reopened.”
Given the results of the survey, said Anwar, it is “no surprise” that PN wishes to delay the onset of Undi18, or lowered voting age.
“Disenfranchising this population, however, is a short-term measure and will do nothing to solve the long-term problem.
“I call on the PN government to convene Parliament so that the future prospects of Malaysian graduates can be debated, and not left to the arbitrary decision-making of an unelected government.” – The Vibes, April 15, 2021
