00:07A warm welcome to YB Dr. Seri Engineer Dr. Lee Ka Siong.
00:14Malaysia's economy grew by 6% in the second quarters this year.
00:20Manufacturing grew by 7.3%.
00:25Inflation in July was 1.8%.
00:28Held down in good part by a subsidized petrol price fixed at 1.99 and on paper this is a
00:39strong year.
00:41Now look at the same quarter from a different angle.
00:46Exports grew by 17%.
00:49Government spending grew by 7.6%.
00:54Household spending grew by 4.8%.
00:58The lowest of the three.
01:01The growth is real but it is simply not felt by the people.
01:07Labor figures make the point more sharply.
01:11National unemployment in June was 3%.
01:15However, among Malaysians aged 15 to 24, it was 10.2%.
01:25More than three times the national rate.
01:28And here is the figure I would ask you to think about.
01:33In its latest graduate statistics, the Department of Statistics Dawson found that among employed graduates aged 24 and under, 66
01:47% were in skill related underemployment.
01:51Two in three young graduates who had found work who were working below the qualification they had really earned.
02:02This is not a story about a shortage of jobs.
02:06It tells us that Malaysia is training people whom the economy is not yet putting to full use.
02:14Unemployment rate does not reflect a true picture of our labor force.
02:19The under employment rate is the one that tells the truth.
02:25So, what does policy have to do with this?
02:28When people ask what young Malaysians want from the government, I think the honest answer has more to do with
02:38certainty.
02:38The generation is asking for certainty to policies that it can plan against and reasonable confidence that what is announced
02:49in February still means that the same thing in June still remains the same thing in June.
02:55And certainty is among the most valuable things the government can give to its people.
03:01And so, let me offer three thoughts on what you might do with all of this.
03:10First, learn to read the numbers yourself and read past the headlines by understanding the context.
03:18Second point, take part in policy making process.
03:23And third, think of solution too. Criticism without an alternative is easy and it gets ignored completely.
03:35Criticism carrying a vocable alternative is very hard to ignore.
03:40So, ladies and gentlemen, have a productive forum.
03:44Ask the difficult questions and hold all of us to the answers.
03:50With that, I conclude my speech. Thank you very much.
03:54Terima kasih.
03:55Sisi.
03:56Thank you once again to YBidata Sri.
