KUCHING (Oct 31): Rural youths in the state are calling for faster internet connectivity in their areas to be at the same level as their urban peers, said Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He said that while the Jelajah Belia programme moved from one district to another, this was the main concern of youths at each of the rural locations.
He said that rural youths were frustrated while waiting for messages or videos to load as their area had slower internet speed, if any at all.
“At almost each of the Jelajah Belia locations we visited, there is at least one person voicing concern about increasing the internet speed in their area. In Kuching, youths don’t face this problem but in the interior, they do,” he told reporters after launching Jelajah Belia at a hotel here today.
He added that this request had been relayed to the state leadership and it understands this request.
As the Chief Minister is passionate about digital economy, Abdul Karim believes that there would be allocation for digitalisation in the upcoming state budget tabled during the state legislative assembly (DUN) sitting held in November.
On the Jelajah Belia, Abdul Karim said that it started in April last year at Asajaya, and there were 40 locations in total. Due to the pandemic, the event was postponed for several months, and would not be able to complete all locations by this year.
The event includes a youth talk session, questions and answer session and motivation session.
Meanwhile, when asked about the suggestion to allow Provident Fund (EPF) contributors to withdraw RM10,000 from their savings from Account 1, Abdul Karim said he had not seen the suggestion in detail.
Abdul Karim suggested that the government should look into this carefully because the contribution is meant as an investment for the future, and if they withdraw too much, there might not be any money left when they are older.
On Oct 26, former prime minister Dato Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak on his Facebook page made this suggestion to allow withdrawal up to RM10,000 to face these dire times during the Covid-19 outbreak.
He said there were many requests to the government to allow the one-off withdrawal, and believes that this request could be considered provided they agree to repay the withdrawn amount within the next two years after the economy recovered, not including the regular monthly contribution.
The post Abdul Karim: Rural youths calling for faster internet on par with urban areas appeared first on Borneo Post Online.
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