KUALA LUMPUR: Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today welcomed Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s youth-centric party, saying it is a sign of a good democratic system in the country.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of social impact match (SIM) grants to enable the recovery of social enterprises, Khairy said the foundation of a democracy is a healthy competition among parties, with anyone allowed to set up a political party.
“We must welcome this.”
The former Umno Youth chief said youngsters wanted a party that could fully represent them and hoped Saddiq’s party would be able to do that.
The Rembau MP also said the youth-centric party was a signal for other existing parties, including Umno, to evolve to meet demands from the younger generation.
Yesterday, former Wanita Umno chief Rafidah Aziz had termed Syed Saddiq’s youth-centric party as an example of “divisive politics”, saying Malaysians were already divided along racial and religious lines.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad also played down the prospects of the youth-centric party being successful in winning seats in a general election.
“In any constituency, there will be old people and young people. We (in Pejuang) will appeal to the young as well. But if he appeals only to young people, it will be difficult for him to succeed,” he had said.
On the disruption of water services after water treatment plants in Selangor were shut down due to pollution, Khairy recommended that the existing laws be revised.
“I think the existing laws for those who pollute are not enough. I hope the relevant ministry should discuss with the Cabinet to increase the punishment for those who pollute water sources. This is a serious crime.”
He said water samples from the polluted river had been collected for analysis and further action would be taken against the offenders.
The SIM grant is an initiative under the government’s short-term economic recovery plan (Penjana). It aims to support local social enterprises and other social impact businesses to sustain their initiatives and programmes.
He said the grant is awarded through a one to one matching mechanism and will be made available to eligible applicants with successful initiatives.
“It provides a minimum of RM5,000 and a maximum of RM500,000 matching grant per application.
“This grant will help to rebuild the livelihood of communities which have been impacted by the pandemic,” he added. - FMT
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