- 1 hour ago
Can young Malaysians turn volunteerism into meaningful social change? Mohamed Nazri Prem Nasir of MySDG Academy and Siti Hajar Badzlin of Yayasan Sukarelawan Siswa (YSS) discuss the challenges facing young changemakers and the need for greater youth participation in decision-making.
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00:00most of the youth organization are actually facing second i think in terms of time management because
00:04i think nowadays we there's a lot of debate telling that youths does not really you know
00:09giving importance to uh social issue does not really uh voicing out for any kind of issues
00:15that's happening around the around malaysia itself but if you look into social media there
00:19are a lot of youth advocates who actually voice out who actually raise awareness on different
00:24costs like climate change social protection or any kind of causes and i think in terms of time
00:29management as a student because it's very hard for you to actually balance your education at the
00:33same time you know giving back to the community and the most fundamental challenge i would say is
00:38in terms of support from stakeholders right because normally we do have a lot of like engagement section
00:44we have policy discussions but uh in terms of the follow-up after the discussion or policy round
00:50table is not there because for me i always follow this one thing when you are doing something for
00:55youth youth should be the first priority that should be included in terms of that discussion
00:59right i think we talk a lot about youth representation here on this show and um talk a lot about
01:06you
01:06know running away from tokenism right yeah and making sure that like you say youth is really part of the
01:12process from the start till the end meaning at the policy level as well they're there and and you're
01:17right there's there's a big gap there and and we're still seeing it now i've done the show for quite
01:20some
01:21time and we're still seeing it now um haja what's your thought on this what are some of the biggest
01:25obstacle you face when engaging with youths to contribute more to join programs to engage more
01:33i think um of course uh all the factors that you mentioned just now is just a combination of problems
01:39that uh faced by youth nowadays right however i think one things that maybe we mistook is uh the
01:47the the functions of mentor okay so i think it's very important for youth to have one mentor for
01:55them to you know just navigate and give them guidance okay where should you get the funding from because
02:03our mentors basically they will have more knowledge on the stakeholders on the project a viable project to
02:10implement and i think that is the things that we should look into and to able to do i mean
02:18to able
02:19to have a mentor i think a very good ecosystems of youth need to be developed so i think that
02:26is uh one
02:27of the challenge that we are facing when we are youth and we are organizing a programs all right so
02:33not
02:34enough mentorship or i guess overall support right um because i think a lot of youths really want to
02:41create an impact but like you know like i said just now they sometimes don't know where to start
02:46you know where to get funding where to get resources what are the information out there available i know a
02:52lot of youths are resourceful but it's good to have someone like a role model like how you started as
02:57well
02:57um right uh haja i want to talk a little bit about the institutional part of this right are because
03:05we
03:05mentioned obviously you know you wanting to volunteer and create impact but at the same time are these
03:11programs doing enough to equip youth with the skills and resources and network to sustain um their
03:19initiatives or you know their causes from the institutions part okay okay i think um in terms of
03:30that uh maybe from institution parts we need to look uh rather than we are organizing program based
03:36approach maybe we should go to you know long term uh approach which for yss yes yes maybe volunteerism
03:46in different locality is just a starting point and then how we do it is actually to make sure that
03:54these uh volunteers leaders are not uh only end for one program right we support them with uh volunteer
04:02leadership development program which we give them grant and try to you know do their own projects and
04:09nazira actually one of the uh ground winner and it's very happy to know and i think um along the
04:16journey
04:17of vrdp i'm pretty sure that um all the volunteers leaders they are actually looking for um guidance so i
04:27think
04:27from you know from program based we just conduct one of and then we try to move to long term
04:34where we could
04:35engage these youth even though they have finished their studies their expertise will be used for
04:40the next youth right so it's about empowering them and building them and and and impact you know imparting
04:48this knowledge and skills do you agree with this approach or are there any creative ways around you know
04:53how we can make volunteering programs a bit more sustainable a bit more attractive what are your thoughts on this
04:59i think uh from my experience like i have joined different conferences international summits and i
05:05think uh when we look into you know like developing countries like japan china when they do a lot of
05:11programs especially in terms of youth development program i think i i do agree with what uh just said
05:17in terms of the sustainability part like for myself uh previously i was the deputy director of malaysia
05:23youth sdg summit um and during that time i think uh we had like discussion section with all the
05:29sdg agents and i find the main concern that they have is in terms of what they're going to do
05:34after
05:34the program right after the post program because when we see like nowadays there are a lot of programs
05:39happening around but they are just focusing more on the amount of attendees of the program rather than
05:44making it a very impactful program so i think uh as an institutional kind of support we should also
05:50provide a lot of training and development because you should have a mindset where when they come to
05:56volunteering is not only about giving back to the society but also getting back uh in written in
06:02terms of skill building in terms of networking or any kind of resources that might be actually useful
06:07for them so i think i represent the voice of the sdg agent i and i realized that uh the
06:12main concern
06:13there was actually arising is in terms of the training and development process because they realized
06:17if there's any programs it's just like a one-time program and there's no like follow-up actions that was
06:23done so i think maybe after this is that if there's any kind of uh programs or any kind of
06:27training
06:28they should come up with uh post program like they can also include mentorship as part of it or even
06:33grants for the for the change makers to come up with their own kind of initiatives or even like continuous
06:40engagement sections with them would will be really helpful for the youths to actually to impact more
06:45people and also to make sure that the impact is lasting long all great insights uh we're gonna go for
06:51a quick
06:52break we'll discuss a bit more after this hello and welcome back to it's about you today i'm joined by
07:10nazri and haja two young change makers and during the before break we talk about the role of young people
07:17in driving real change um but meaningful social impact usually doesn't happen in isolation right
07:24it requires collaboration between different sectors ngos society and i think that's something that my
07:30sdg academy is championing and hopes to address as well um in this upcoming forum that is happening
07:35nazri maybe you can tell us a little bit about um the my sdg third sector and socioeconomic forum
07:412026 later this month what prompted the academy to bring together you know all this organization
07:48to hold this forum and what are we hoping to achieve with this gathering maybe nazri okay i think this
07:54is
07:54something aligned with our government vision in rmk 13 where we want to actually give more focus in
08:00terms of the third sector building so as i mentioned earlier when it comes to that third sector that
08:04includes ngos csos the main concern is in terms of the sustainability of the organization right so in this
08:11uh summit we're gonna like explore we're gonna have like discussions on how to actually amplify all
08:17these uh problems and we're gonna like uh come up with uh policy discussions because uh this summit will
08:23also uh gather all the different uh stakeholders uh csos partners that will come up uh with their own kind
08:31of ideas to get a get a better solution uh for all the issues that are being facing by the
08:38third sector
08:39parties yeah right um haja what's your thoughts on this coming from you know somewhat a government
08:45sector here looking at um youth engagement in volunteerism and you know creating their own
08:52initiatives what are the missing gaps are the missing gaps what nazri mentioned just now or and are the
08:57government doing something about it um i think the government is quite on track in involving youth in
09:05the national policies and rmk and all because um before this when we talk about policy and all it's
09:13always work um whole of government i mean it's work interagency uh between the government between the
09:20ministries and i find it this third sector platform forum especially it's a very uh it's a very good
09:28platform because they gather all the from first sector second sector and third sector so i think it's actually
09:34uh bridge the gap well what we have before so we get uh input as a youth uh involvement and
09:43then we get
09:44input from the government sector and private sector so i think um yeah we are do we are quite on
09:51track but
09:52hopefully it's uh it will you know uh leverage more on uh youth participation in third sector especially
09:59right um uh so putting aside the forum a little bit i want to talk a little bit about youth
10:06representation
10:06here because i think both of you mentioned that quite um you know deliberately and extensively right
10:11when it comes to making sure that youth voices are heard especially with regards to making you know these
10:20changes into real policies are there pathways um to do that right now um if we talk about you know
10:28volunteerism in its
10:29itself can it become a stepping stone towards something greater or are we missing that stepping
10:35stone what are your thoughts on this nazri i think when it comes to volunteering as i mentioned earlier
10:42uh you know like we already have a different mindset right now in terms of one because previously maybe
10:48like you know in 90s 80s when it comes to volunteering it's not it's only about you know giving back
10:53to the
10:53community but nowadays i think volunteering is not only about uh giving back to the community but at the same
10:58time
10:58you can also gain something out of it because i think nowadays when it comes to employment it is a
11:04skill
11:05that we can actually learn because through volunteering is not only about uh you learn to do projects but also
11:11you can also develop different skills so i think this is something that is very very important for us to
11:16emphasize
11:16so when we have a structured policy this will also amplify more youths to come come up front to make
11:23changes
11:23at the same time to also develop their self because like as we know nowadays with ai technology
11:30the only thing that differentiate graduates is their skills so i think this is something that government
11:35should also focus on because volunteering is providing all these skills in just like a one package kind of
11:41you know skills that we can actually gain through this volunteering so we should not see volunteering as a
11:46one day activity we can we should see this as a activity that can actually bridge the future generations
11:52of malaysia right haja so how can youth volunteerism become a stepping to stone towards greater youth
12:00participation you know in decision making and also policy making as well because you're also in in the
12:06policy division of yss so um i think volunteerism is just a starting point i mean just a starting point
12:15for
12:15people for the people for the youth to you know identify the problems in their community and then
12:21understand the problems and then from there they doing projects i think that is just the starting
12:27point because youth their their their characters is they always ask for more very curious yeah very
12:34curious after one activity or program they will come to us and you know us oh is there anything any
12:40projects that i could be involved and that is where like for my organizations we are actually provide
12:47a platform for them to maybe for this uh specific sector we do have a working group of policy advocacy
12:54so through that platform we actually involve this youth in you know uh try to be in this policy advocacy
13:01because remember that our the power of youth today is actually uh their engagement um strength which is
13:09they are they are more on uh internet they are more on digital so that is actually the very critical
13:15part when we are doing a policy because each um stage of doing a policy we need to have a
13:23policy advocacy
13:24and every youth could fill in the blank for that policy advocacy so i think um how volunteering to policy
13:33is the volunteer is just a starting point for them to get to know more and be involved more in
13:38our national policy i think to add on i just point when it comes to volunteering i think uh the
13:45youths
13:45comes from different parts of malaysia and they actually eventually have more connection in their
13:50respective community and sometimes we don't really know that what are the problems that this particular
13:55community actually facing so when it comes to policy implementation we have to come up with a
14:00bottom-up approach where these youths are the i could say like agents who actually bring the voices of this
14:06community so when they are involved in community works or even volunteerism they might address all
14:12these issues and these issues could be carried out to the government so the government should play the
14:17vital role to take these voices and come up with a i could say like an effective plan or effective
14:23policy
14:24that might you know make changes on the certain things that we might not address yeah right and i think
14:30youth voices are some of the loudest we've heard right i mean we've seen youth movements not just in
14:35malaysia but across the world um championing different causes and and you know either in in protests in
14:41parliament um in different different platforms and i think um you know it's high time that the
14:46government or any stakeholder listen to them you know a bit more strongly uh right on that i want
14:54you know we talked about some of the challenges that youth organization or youth volunteers face from
14:58mental lack of lack of lack of mentorship uh resources um financial issues but i want to ask both of
15:06you
15:06personally you know what more um if you could change one thing about malaysia support to youth that are
15:15driving this change what would make the biggest difference to them um you know that could really create
15:22impact and make them want to start creating change today um there's a lot that we can cover but if
15:29there's one thing that you think that you know we can definitely tackle this on maybe haja i think one
15:36change that maybe you could tackle on is provide them with the good ecosystems right i mean everything's
15:44there we have government sector private sector and use itself as uh the one that who are doing it i
15:53think
15:53one change that i would want and happy to do is just gather all of them and then prepare the
16:00good
16:00ecosystem so that when they wanted to ask for funding or they wanted to ask for partnership it is there
16:07for
16:07them to you know reach it and just uh people say one uh one call away something like that so
16:15i think
16:15ecosystem is the things that i would really want to change who should be handling this ecosystem is it
16:23government is it universities i think who should be handling is a very hard question
16:30because third sector itself it's um there are ngos and a there are mpo is a private uh not private
16:38uh i
16:39mean cooperatives so it's it's so many different hands here who should do it is actually um through
16:49our platform forum i think it's a medium for for us all together and you know just to have a
16:56discussion
16:56and build that ecosystem who should take it i think of course the honor of it will be a government
17:02to take the policy brief or policy recommendation uh next two or three years maybe so uh the work must
17:12do from uh grassroots right and it should start from here maybe yeah that's the answer yeah i mean
17:20you know different organization different stakeholders play different roles and i think creating that
17:25ecosystem obviously requires a lot of hands like you mentioned but i think yeah probably government
17:30needs to push for it a little bit more to build this ecosystem probably universities also play a uh
17:35quite quite a big role and use itself play quite a big role to you know the advocacy part of
17:40it um
17:41nasri one thing you could change i would say participation this so to start with it i think uh youth
17:48related policy should not be decided without youth voice right so i think when it comes to uh
17:54volunteering when it comes to third sector we are the upcoming generation that will be actually
17:59taking up all these works in future so i think we should be considered we should be the first
18:04person the stakeholders should reach out when they are actually having discussions in terms of policy
18:10that they might actually implement in the upcoming years because i feel uh majority of the youth
18:16organization they have different problems i think when we gather all these problems together we might
18:21actually help them with a solution because at the end all these youth change makers are doing this
18:26just to make a change just to make a better malaysia so i think a very simple participation
18:32uh platform for them to be heard is enough to make a change in future so i think this is
18:37something
18:37that actually government or even other stakeholders should actually emphasize on in future yeah and you
18:44know it's it's it's it's you know a lot of this change are very regulatory are very you know policy
18:50based and you know we want our youth's voices to be heard and we want them to create an impact
18:56and and
18:57i think that pathway that we mentioned just now from youth voices to policy needs to be a bit more
19:03clearer yeah needs to be a bit more like in terms of the uh i could say like follow-up
19:08actually because
19:09normally we might be you know like in terms of discussion we might be included yeah but there's
19:13no any follow-up action i think i should also agree on this so i think they should have a
19:18follow-up
19:18action we should know our voice what happens our voices exactly so not just like one policy paper
19:24not just one forum but just constant follow-up and constant ways to find how youths can be more
19:30engaged in the future uh we don't have much time unfortunately i'm gonna give you maybe one last
19:38question you know a little bit practical i guess for young malaysians watching this program what's
19:43your advice for them to be change makers like yourself maybe short and brief um nazri i think we
19:49are now in technological ai era and i think one thing that always that i emphasize is kindness
19:55so whatever you do even it's a small act make sure be kind to everyone uh besides you we can
20:02start
20:02from a simple smile for to each other so wherever you go just share kindness and happiness that's all
20:08that's very nice what about you ajah i think um one last thing is you know start with something
20:15small it's a very cliche uh statement and message but yeah start with identifying the problems in your
20:23community and then talk to them understand the problems and don't create solutions without them
20:29have a conversation with them and get their concern when you're building the solutions together
20:36i think that is so yeah i guess just start now don't wait till it's too late yeah um i
20:42think that's
20:42all the time we have unfortunately thank you so much nazri and haja uh for being here with us and
20:48for all
20:48the work that you do as well and for the insights that you shared with us here today that's all
20:52for
20:52now for it's for you i'm your host fanashay thank you for watching
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