News

  • Nation
  • World Updates
  • Courts
  • Parliament
  • Columnists
  • Opinion

Friday May 14, 2004

Azalina: Many youths want career shortcuts

BY OLIVIA LEE

BANGI: Shortcuts and choosing the easy path are what many youths hope for to advance in their careers, according to an observation made by Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said.

Citing Akademi Fantasia and Malaysian Idol as examples of a quick shot to instant fame, she said youngsters forget that having a glamorous life was not easy, as it required responsibility and determination to focus on the subject matter.

“They don't want a difficult path with heavy responsibility. They want everything in a touch-and-go manner.

“I want to remind the youths that they are accountable for their success. If they don't succeed they will blame the Government, their parents and the environment.

“And if they can't find work, they say the economy is bad,” she said.

She added that unemployed degree-holding graduates should work their way up.

Azalina said many successful corporate figures “started from ground zero.”

“Read some of their biographies and you'll see that they too had it difficult,” she said at a press conference after launching the Scheduled Symposium Series 2 at the EPF Social Security Training Institute here yesterday.

The symposium, organised by the Institute of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad Thoughts, was attended by some 400 young people and focused on the former prime minister's thoughts on the nation's youth.

Dr Mahathir, according to Azalina, was visionary and courageous when facing change.

Youths, she said, should learn from a determined and hardworking man like him.

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story

News Poll