What Penang youths want from the next state govt

Penangites cast their ballots for the state election on Saturday, with nearly 300,000 of the 1.23 million registered voters aged between 18 and 29.

GEORGE TOWN: Youths in the state hope for more job opportunities, an end to racial preferences in hiring and a cycle-friendly mainland Penang from the next state government.

With youngsters having a bigger say as Penangites prepare to cast their ballots on Saturday, youths told FMT that their top wish was for more job opportunities for locals.

A Permatang Pauh native, who wanted to be known only as Angah, 29, said some companies and factories seemed to prefer hiring foreigners over locals.

“I hope the new state government will set up more industrial areas and ensure that only locals are hired (at companies there),” said the eatery owner.

Twenty-one-year-old Azam Rozi agreed and said more jobs needed to be created in Penang so that local youths won’t have to look to other states for jobs after graduating.

Azam, who is attending a teachers’ training college, hoped whoever formed the next Penang government would bring in more investments to “under-invested” Seberang Perai Utara.

The Teluk Air Tawar resident also highlighted the potential of his hometown, saying its mangrove areas could be turned into tourist spots, adding that an election candidate had in fact proposed this.

Meanwhile, T Vikneshwary, 29, said the state government needed to look into employers hiring only native Mandarin speakers as such a practice left non-Chinese job applicants at a disadvantage.

The Juru native said she had been rejected for jobs in the past for not being a “native Mandarin speaker” despite being proficient in the language.

“There should be a law to allow suits to be filed against hiring managers who request for ‘native Mandarin speakers’, or else these hiring managers won’t learn (their lesson),” she said.

Meanwhile, flood mitigation is top on the wish list of Taman Selamat resident Teh Yu Ming as his neighbourhood has been hit by floods twice over the past two years.

The 30-year-old human resources executive said he was lucky his house was spared during these two incidents but wondered whether he would be as lucky the next time around.

He wanted better flood mitigation measures implemented, including widening of drains in and around flood-prone Taman Selamat and neighbouring Taman Sejahtera.

Meanwhile, engineer and avid cyclist J Kishen Kumar lamented the absence of cycle lanes on the mainland, when the island had such a lane along the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.

Kishen, 29, said some roads on the mainland were unsafe for cyclists and even motorcyclists as they were poorly marked. He hoped the next state administration would commit to building proper cycle lanes in and around Seberang Perai.

Out of the 1.23 million registered voters in Penang, 298,471 are between the ages of 18 and 29, according to data from the Election Commission. - FMT