KUALA LUMPUR – Caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been described as a leader who understands the aspirations of the country’s youth, two leaders said.
4B Youth Movement secretary-general Mohamad Nazri Abdul Latiff said in his time as prime minister, Ismail Sabri has announced initiatives to help youths develop their skills and further their education.
He said the Bera incumbent and Umno vice-president, who was also the youth and sports minister during the Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi administration, is able to understand what the age-group needs.
Nazri highlighted the Ismail Sabri government’s recent move to provide financial assistance to students, in addition to the ePemula e-wallet initiative worth RM200 per student.
Announced in Budget 2023, ePemula is an allocation of RM400 million for 18 to 20-year-olds who are full-time students.
Another initiative for the youth is a prepaid internet data plan subscription package at RM30 for three months, which has been extended until April 2023.
“Our 4B movement finds that he is someone who understands the youth and their aspirations, and we would support him if he were to be prime minister again, of course with majority support from MPs,” Nazri told Getaran, The Vibes’ sister news portal.
He added that the 4B movement would support a retabling of Budget 2023 as it had initiatives important for the youth.
The budget is crucial for the people as the country’s situation in 2023 is expected to be more challenging.”
Another youth leader, Mohd Alif Anas Md Noor, also agreed that Budget 2023, tabled in early October before Parliament was dissolved for the 15th general election, was important for the country’s youth.
“Many benefits and assistance were announced in it. In terms of education, all students from the B40 and M40 income groups are given full loans to pursue their higher education.
“This is proof that Ismail Sabri’s government supports the youth, especially those who want to continue their studies without any obstacles,” he said.
Another initiative for the youth in the budget was discounts of up to 20% on repayments of National Higher Education Fund Corporation loans.
At the same time, Alif noted how Budget 2023 paid attention to job seekers and young entrepreneurs, highlighting the RM305 million special loans allocation for young people to undertake businesses.
Alif welcomed moves to encourage more youths to venture into entrepreneurship.
“We also saw how he introduced the Tekun Mobilepreneur scheme in Budget 2023, which is capital funding totalling RM10 million for young people in the motorcycle delivery service.
“This shows that Ismail Sabri’s leadership provides more opportunities and space for the young,” he added – The Vibes, November 13, 2022
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