`1 Malaysia For Youth

Malaysia has launched 1 Malaysia For Youth (1M4U) movement to spur volunteerism among youths.
It has allocated Malaysian ringgit 100 million 1 Malaysia Volunteer Fund (Dre1m) as "seed money" to kick start the volunteerism efforts.
Malaysia's Chief Secretary Dato' Sri Dr. Ali Bin Hamsa urged Young Corporate Malaysians to tap into the many programs under 1M4U as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.
He made this call in his closing address at the 4th Young Corporate Malaysians Summit at the InterContinental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (Nov. 24, 2012).
The summit, organized with the theme: "Diversity in a Global Workplace - Challenges and Opportunities", gathered about 400 young Malaysian professionals (the New Y Generation)aged between 21 and 30 based in Kuala Lumpur to network, exchange views and share ideas with CEOs and captains of industry and government.
According to Dato' Sri Dr. Ali, the Malaysian government has earmarked 2013 as The Year of The Volunteer.
He urged those present to be part of the exciting movement "to help build a corporate Malaysia that cares for the country".
He said: "As young people who are already or about to enter into a new realm - the working world - I would like to take this opportunity to impart some advice.
"As you proceed in your careers, bear in mind that there will always be two ways of approaching any issue or making any decision - you can choose to take the micro or specialized approach, or you can choose to look at things from the macro perspective. 
"No doubt. there will be some situations or circumstances that you will be in which you will see more benefits in adopting the micro approach.
"However, as you go along in your journey, you will realize that most decisions will have to be made from a bird's eye view, or from a macro perspective.
"The challenge you and I, face is this - identifying which situation requires which approach  - a skill you will need to develop as you progress in your career."
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi's famous saying: "In a gentle way, you can shake the world", he suggested youths could "shake Malaysia positively in your own unique way".

On the role of women in Malaysia, the Chief Secretary said women have contributed significantly to Malaysia's development with outstanding women leaders leaving their mark. 
Women make up 49.1 per cent of Malaysia's population.
Female students make up 57 per cent of the intake in Malaysian institutions of higher learning in 2011.
Recognizing this trend, the government has set the target to raise the participation of women in the labor force from 46.1 per cent in 2010 to 55 per cent in 2015.
It has also set the target for at least 30 per cent of the decision-making posts in the civil service to be held by women by 2015. 
At present that target has been exceeded with 31.7 per cent of the public sector's premier posts held by women.
This shows the Malaysian government's commitment to advance women at the workplace and provide the female touch in decision-making.
Last year Corporate Malaysia was challenged to ensure women would comprise at least 30 per cent  of those in decision-making posts  in the next five years.
"This policy serves as catalyst to an affirmative action towards gender equality in the corporate sector and providing equal opportunity to women to advance in their careers," he stressed.
On the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025, the Chief Secretary said it is being drafted with the aim to tap the brightest Malaysians to be teachers.
In future, Malaysia will recruit the top 30 per cent of graduates to be teachers to transform teaching into a choice profession instead of a last resort career choice.
On managing talent,he revealed that Malaysia has drawn up the Talent Roadmap 2020 since April this year to realize its Vision 2020 to be a developed and progressive nation with a high-income economy.
"Talent has become a critical enabler for economic growth and transformation, and as a country that is on a path towards being a developed nation by 2020, the challenges in managing talent has never been so amplified," he stressed.
"Both the private and public sectors share the same challenge of attracting, recruiting developing and retaining talent."   
He gave two examples of the new strategies and initiatives for cohesive and complementary efforts by the public and private sectors to build up the talent pool to meet the needs of key industries.
The first example is the Talent Acceleration in Public Service (TAPS) program - a two-year work cum development training program for selected high achievers and performers who are holders of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships.
TAPS aims to identify, source and nurture talent for the Malaysian public sector.
The second example is the Scholarship Talent and Retention (STAR) program.
It places PSD scholars to serve their government scholarship bond in the private sector.
It is a win-win scheme for the PSD scholars to serve in key Malaysian companies that support the Economic Transformation Program (ETP).
It enables the best Malaysian companies to tap the previously inaccessible pool of best and brightest new talent while helping to train and develop their potential.