Understanding the Concerns of Young People

Interviews with Participants to the Regional Meeting on HRD for Youth

FROM ESCAP HRD NEWSLETTER NO 8

Saifuddin Abdullah, Secretary-General, MalaysianYouth Council

What are the main concerns of young people in Malaysia today?

First is their desire to upgrade their skills. They recognize that tomorrow is going to be more challenging than today and yesterday. In the 21st century, even a second- or third-level academic degree may not be sufficient to secure a well-paying or satisfying job. How to get sufficiently well-equipped in knowledge and skills to ensure a good job and to contribute to the development of the country is a major challenge.

Second are the social problems facing young people. Among other problems, the number of people living with AIDS is increasing, substance abuse is rising, teenage pregnancies are becoming more frequent. There is a continuing worry among young people that no matter what action is taken by Government or NGOs, there will be little improvement in the situation.

Do you think that young people are sufficiently organized in Malaysia?

I don't think so. Some people become active when they are in school, but only a small percentage continue to play an active participatory role after school. The majority of young people are not involved in youth organizations. From what I have observed, the situation is quite similar in other countries of the region.

Is it because young people have become more individualized?

There are always those who will just not want to listen to you. But I think the majority of youth still have a group orientation. There are various subcultures among young people. Some groups have their own slang, their own way of dressing up. They have their own places where they like to get together. Perhaps they don't want to be organized by other people. They prefer to be empowered through their own self-organization. We have encountered groups which we thought at first could not be organized for any worthwhile purpose, as they gave every sign that they wouldn't want to be involved in any useful activity. But we searched out their leaders and explained to them the importance of certain things. Having convinced the leaders, we found ourselves able to empower the groups to reorient their ways with some guidance. This led to their effective social participation.

What do you think of the participation of young people and youth organizations in the work of the United Nations?

Young people definitely have a role to play in the UN. However, over the last 40 years not much has been done in the UN regarding youth participation. The time has come for a change in that tradition.

Salma Waheed, Federal Secretary, Ministry of Women Development and Youth Affairs, Pakistan

What are the main concerns of young people in Pakistan today?

Employment and technical education are clearly the priority concerns of Pakistan's youth. We have a very young population. In the last 20 years there has been much neglect of the social sector as a whole, including education, health and especially population. Our country has given more importance to defence and the economic sector. We haven't given much attention to youth issues at all.

Many NGOs in Pakistan have attempted to provide education. What is your position on that?

We do have the Compulsory Education Act. We want all children to go to school. But poverty interferes with that objective, and some religious schools are free. Many poor can't afford to go to other schools. These schools have come up a lot in the last fifteen years; they were hardly visible before.

Vincent Lam, Founder and President, Youth Challenge, Singapore.

What is the biggest challenge to the youth of Singapore today?

To teach our young people to put nation before self, to involve them in social work and to instill in them the will to be worthy citizens.

What is the biggest problem facing young people in Singapore today?

They are interested only in materialistic wealth and do not involve themselves in healthy activities.

Your organization is well-known in Singapore. How did this come about?

Ten years ago, many young people did little but hang out in shopping centres. We got them all together and stimulated them to do something more constructive with their lives in order to make them better citizens. Because of our success in that venture we gained public recognition.

Does your organization have members?

We have 2,000 members, all between 15 and 30 years of age. That is not a lot; other organizations in Singapore have 100,000 or 200,000 members. But for Youth Challenge, the philosophy is not the quantity of its membership, but the quality. We give a one-year membership to those who want to join. We judge their progress. If they are not very active, we ask them to leave the organization the following year.

So all members have to participate actively?

Yes. You have earn your membership through active participation. If you don't do anything, you will lose your membership. Every member must participate and accumulate points for his or her activities. Every event in which they participate earns them two merit points. If you are chairman of a project you'll be given five points. But we also have demerit points. Members who come late for meetings are given one demerit point. Those who don't turn up are given two demerit points. At the end of the year, a member must have at least 24 points in order to renew his or her membership. If he or she gets 20 or so, we provide a chance to load on the needed additional points by doing some extra activities.

What do you think is the role of the UN in the world of youth?

The UN should privatize its networking role! Let the young people of the region do it. The UN should facilitate and act as adviser or consultant. It should not try to do everything itself; let the member countries do it. The more able youth in the region should help those less able, and this mutual assistance should be extended among countries.

What support do you get from the private sector and from your own Government?

All our expenses are being paid by the private sector. We don't get a single cent from the Government. On the other hand, we receive generous support from the business and private community.

As an NGO, it is sometimes easy in Singapore to gain popular support. For example, we do a lot of telephone counseling for young people in Singapore. They are willing to share their problems with us rather than with a government service. They know that we will not intrude into their privacy, so they trust us. But we also help the Government. The Government recently banned smoking in public places. We knew that the public, especially young people, would not be very happy with that new law. So we organized an awareness campaign. We brought in some popular movie stars to talk to young people about it. They made them aware that to quit smoking is for their own good and not just another prohibition imposed by the Government.

Paula Kunabuli, Director, Ministry of Youth, Employment and Opportunities, Fiji

What are the biggest issues facing young people in Fiji?

The lack of employment opportunities is the biggest problem facing Fiji's youth. Unemployment is particularly high among young people leaving school. Related to this, we have such problems as sexually transmitted diseases, teenage pregnancies and involvement of youth in crime. These problems are fairly similar to those in other countries of the Pacific, such as the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. These are issues facing young people throughout Melanesia nowadays. Unlike the Polynesian countries, most of the young people in Fiji do not go overseas to seek jobs.

Does Fiji have a national youth policy?

We have a number of policy guidelines, but we do not have a comprehensive national youth policy. It is a reflection of the way in which national issues are being prioritized by the Government. Over the years, the responsibility for dealing with youth issues has been shifted around between ministries.

Should youth participate more in policy-making?

In traditional societies, social structures are such that youth will meet a lot of obstacles and resistance if they seek to participate more actively in community affairs. I believe that, as educational standards improve and as the influence of the media mounts, young people will be enabled to become increasingly involved in decision-making. In my country, the voting age is 21, you can marry at 18 and you can be convicted of a crime at 17. So, while you are old enough to be punished and to get married by age 18, you are still not old enough to vote!

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