TAR UC students had the privilege to have an interactive dialogue session with two ministers, namely YB En Khairy Jamaluddin Bin Abu Bakar, Minister of Youth and Sports and YB Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Minister of Transport, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of TARC Education Foundation and Board of Governors of TAR UC, on Transformasi Nasional 2050 or TN50 in short on 17 April 2017. Held at the Sports Complex of TAR UC Kuala Lumpur Main Campus, the event saw more than 1,000 TAR UC students present together with their lecturers and TAR UC staff as well. The session was part of the nationwide tour to provide a platform for the youth to voice out their aspirations on what they would want Malaysia to be in 2050.
The dialogue started with a speech by YB Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai where he spoke about the technological advancement that has taken place over the years and that all Malaysians should embrace change as it is the only constant in this world. He elaborated on the catalytic effect of efficient public transportation in Klang Valley as an example. “With the MRT, LRT, Monorail and Kommuter trains becoming fully operational, it will be a catalyst for growth in greater Kuala Lumpur, forming part of the transformation agenda for economic growth. This will reduce pollution, increase efficiency by reducing traffic congestion, encourage high growth and low carbon footprint and connect people. In addition, Pan Borneo Highway and East Coast Rail Line (‘ECRL’) will also make a lot of difference. ”
“Besides that, Malaysia is also moving into the digital economy. Jack Ma will be bringing in 16 logistics companies to invest in Malaysia. There are all kinds of transformation taking place in Malaysia and we need more talents to develop the nation,” he said.
YB En Khairy Jamaluddin Bin Abu Bakar, on the other hand, spoke at length about why the country needs to have the TN 50. “We have always had a long-term vision, starting from back in 1971, when the government formulated policy to eradicate poverty and then in 1991, there was the vision 2020. We continue to have aspirations into the future.”
“The TN 50 is a bottom-up approach to not only listen to the aspirations of the young people today but also to take that into account of what has been said and implement what needs to be done for the future of the country. Fast forward over 30 years, there will be many issues to look into such as aging population, cyber-attacks, adaptive education, advancement in robotics which will affect job security as many jobs will be performed by robots, scarce resources, renewable energy, and smart cities. These are some of the megatrends that we are looking into,” he added.
After the introductory speeches, many students shared their thoughts, opinions and aspirations. There was a boy who hailed from East Malaysia spoke about how he hopes that Sabah and Sarawak can be developed to be as modern as Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya. Another student, who is a Malay girl talked about how she feels proud to be studying in TAR UC and how she thinks that it is important not to stick to one culture, one perspective and one race. One particular aspiration that resonated with most of the students was on racial unity and the need to be identified as ‘Malaysian’ rather than be defined by one’s race.
Before the session ended, YB En Khairy Jamaluddin wrapped it up by saying that the dialogue at TAR UC was one that was insightful and critical and that the feedback would be addressed at national level.
