Don’t rush into politics, Abd Karim advises young generation

Abdul Karim emphasises a point during a press conference. – Photo by Roystein Emmor

KUCHING (July 26): The young generation should not rush into joining politics, advised Sarawak Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

“Although the rights to vote and to be electoral candidates have been lowered from (age) 21 to 18 years, this does not mean that everybody should rush to join politics or put themselves as a candidate,” he said during a press conference announcing the entrance fees for Borneo Cultures Museum.

Abdul Karim felt the most appropriate time for a person to join politics is when they are in their late 30s or 40s, after spending the earlier decades focusing on their career and starting a family.

After 10 or 20 years of gaining experience, Abdul Karim, who is Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice-president, personally felt only then a person could be in a better position to participate in politics and maybe contest in an election.

“Once you rush into politics, you might not be able to look after your career. You cannot look at politics purely as a career,” he said.

The minister was responding to a statement by former Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) supreme council member Jocky Jim Ungka, calling for a new political party led by young members to be set up in the state and allowing them to have greater say in the administration affairs of the state.

Citing an example, Abdul Karim said one of the youngest members of Parliament in the country, 29-year-old Syed Saddip Syed Abdul Rahman representing Muar parliamentary constituency, founded his own political party named Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda).

“Personally (from what I see), I hope he can still withstand the difficulties in politics but it’s not going to be easy.”

Locally, Abdul Karim said Julau MP Larry Sng had joined politics in the same year as him back in 2001 and Sng first contested in elections at the age of 21.

However, the PBB senior leader said there were some people who could shoulder the challenges of politics at a young age but mostly it was because they were born into a family of politicians.

He cited Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who joined politics in his early 20s, and his father was the second prime minister of the country, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.

Nonetheless, Abdul Karim remarked that the road ahead will be very

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