Perdana fellow participants, cabinet ministers help in adding value to ministries

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak wants participants of the Perdana Fellows programme and their mentors, namely Cabinet ministers, to help each other find value added aspects in their respective ministries.
He said the interaction between the Cabinet ministers and the Perdana Fellows would also enable them to understand the thoughts and needs of the young people.
"Don't view students only as troublesome to us but look at them as a source of intellectual opportunity to develop their thinking," he said at the 2016 Perdana Fellows presentation ceremony to the Cabinet ministers here today.
The 2016 Perdana Fellows involved 82 students from 52 universities from within and outside the country pursuing 47 majors.
Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the Perdana Fellows programme could also give exposure to the participants on the administration of a multi-racial country like Malaysia.
"When seen from outside, it may be easy for us to criticise and give our views. But we see from the inside, we will understand how administrating a country of diverse religion, races, culture and languages is not as easy as seen from the outside," he said.
Najib said the younger generation should not only criticise the government but must also provide alternative suggestions that are effective and constructive to assist in the country's administration.
He said the government often faced complex problems and had to make unpopular decisions as well as caused anger among the people.
"There is no easy choice in the government to make a decision. We always have consideration that is a conflict such as the question of oil prices. We want to raise the price of oil, we know it is unpopular. People are angry. If it is not raise, we have to remove the subsidy.
"If we remove the subsidy, people are not aware of it. It is public funds that enable us to build village roads, housing projects and various development projects. The question is, decisions have to be made," he said. — Bernama