Sabah Assistant Finance Minister Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan has reiterated that the Government is committed to honouring its on-going drive to invest in human capital by hinting at another major allocation that would empower young Malaysians.
Tawfiq also reminded young people both in Sabah and across the nation that the Government was in a position to offer various loans or other assistance to aid budding entrepreneurs..
When youths take up the opportunities available to them, they obviously contribute to driving forward the business sector, he told reporters after officiating a conference here on the role of young people in transforming Malaysia
It’s logic that even Pakatan would struggle to argue with.
Last week Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was the keynote speaker at the Asia HRD (Human Resource Development) Congress Awards 2012 in Bangalore.
There, she stressed that Human capital is the pillar of any country’s future and that it is paramount to start nurturing it from young and aligning it with the needs of the nation, businesses and industries.
“We cannot keep producing throngs of scientists when the vacuum is in finance and economics, for instance. Even as there may be a common script of what good talent should be, this script must match the realities of our own countries,” she said.
She also cited the Permata Project, which focuses on early childhood education and care, as key steps taken by Malaysia in developing future talent.
“Early childhood is the most critical period in human development, and 85 per cent of a person’s intellect, personality and social skills are developed in the first five years of life,” she said.
“Children who have quality early childhood education are said to have a better life trajectory. They are not only more successful in the early years but will also be better individuals in their later life.”
The Permata Project, started in 2007, has developed into more then 600 Permata childcare centres in Malaysia and assisted in the development of some 25,000 children from rural areas and the urban poor, irrespective of their religion, race and culture, she said.
Viktor Shvets, managing director of Credit Suisse and recently noted that Malaysia was “on the cusp of development” and he said human capital was key to this, with the country already home to a very capable demographic and an ability to attract and nurture even more.
“The only way we can keep moving up the value chain is by creating complex products and transactions. That’s the only way the value can continue to be created. And to do that, you need a human capital that is capable of doing it,” he said.
It’s a stance that Putrajaya clearly shares.
The emphasis on education and its impact on our labour markets appears to be the logical outgrowth of the Prime Minister’s approach to the national march towards our 2020 goals.
This has been a priority of the Government for some time, but the results are finally starting to become clear through plans like Talent Corp, which seeks to bring home the best and brightest Malaysians living abroad to share in the country’s growth.
Improved educational development and transformation not only produces a more skilled workforce, attracting domestic and foreign investment, it also serves to foster a unified country. It reduces our reliance on foreign workers (while still attracting their best and brightest) and increases per-capita GDP at the same time.
And the Government has consistently proven that such development isn’t just a pet project that looks good on front pages. The palpable results have shown it is a transformation that affects all of the stakeholders in our new Malaysia.