Youths happy with Najib’s stewardship

Forty-six percent of them are satisfied with the way the prime minister's managing the nation, according to a survey.

PETALING JAYA: The majority of Malaysian youth between the ages of 17 and 35 have expressed confidence in Najib Tun Razak’s stewardship of the nation.

According to a nationwide survey, 46% are happy with the way the prime minister is running the country while 17% had little or no confidence at all in him.

His popularity could be attributed to the 1Malaysia Youth Fund which provides a platform for youths to channel their talent and energy in promoting development.

“Malaysian youth are politically sensitive…they are aware of core government policies,” said Nur Azrina Azhar, senior programme officer at The Asia Foundation, which conducted the survey.

Two thousand one hundred and five youngsters took part in the survey which was carried out in April this year.

Five institutions, mainly the civil administration, the police, the legal system, the prime minister and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), were gauged.

The police force and NGOs faired least favourably in the survey, with 29% and 24% having low confidence or no confidence in both respectively.

An ethnic breakdown revealed that Malays and East Malaysia Bumiputeras along with Indian youth had the most confidence in the PM.

Chinese youths, however, had the least confidence in all five institutions with only 48% having trust in the PM and his policies.