YB M Kula Segaran: 2019 - The Future Is Ours

Malaysia Baharu is a vision that Malaysians voted for in the most historic General Election this nation has seen yet, to unshackle us from years of corruption and mismanagement. 

Malaysians voted in for the second time around, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a leader like no other, whose determination and workrate is second to none, to lead the country and repair all that was broken. 

2018 has been a year for change and adjustment, but 2019 is going to be a year for challenges and accomplishments. 

Under the Ministry of Human Resources (MoHR), we are tasked with great responsibilities that are quite delicate to deal with. This is especially so after the nation was left damaged financially by the previous government that only seeked to enrich their pockets and not the pockets of the people in Malaysia. 

Therefore we at MoHR have to balance our policy decisions between the interest of employers and employees, who are both crucial in the development of the nation and both requiring different attention from me as a Minister. 

To be competitive we have to increase productivity. But at the same time the Pakatan Government will ensure to fulfil the pledge in our Manifesto to increase the minimum wage to RM1,500, as we have crossed the biggest hurdle of streamlining the wages across Peninsular and Sabah and Sarawak, something Barisan Nasional did not have the political will to do. 

We are looking at a three prone attack to ensure we produce more productive human capital to lead us into a more challenging phase of competitiveness regionally and globally.  

First, I echo Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad, who said women must be given more opportunities in the government and private sector while we must ensure they are not discriminated. To ensure that more women are appointed to senior levels in my ministry through our agencies and independent committees. So far they have excelled in those position and I will announce more in coming weeks. 

Second, We at MoHR are also emphasising that persons with disabilities be hired in the workforce to ensure that we are inclusive. They are a valuable human capital provided we learn how to harness their skills. They also remain one of the most loyal and disciplined human capital we can produce. 

I have also urged the Public Service Department (PSD) to open up more job opportunities for persons with disabilities as currently, the government has only met 0.6% of the 1% quota for them to be employed in the civil service. 

The Ministry alongside BAC college has set up a Job Portal dedicated to persons with disabilities, SpecialJobs.com.my.  This is where potential employees can look for work and employers looking to make their workforce more inclusive can also use the website, totally free of charge. 

This is where potential employees can look for work and employers looking to make their workforce more inclusive can also use the website, totally free of charge. 

Third, there will be emphasis on getting those above 60 years back into the workforce I believe they still have much to offer us. We are working towards a policy to make this effort more effective as well as a dedicated job portal for those above 60 to get back into the workforce.

Lastly I want to ensure everyone here that much emphasis is also given to our future workforce, the youth and increase the employment of youth. 

 Through our Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes, we want our youth to receive the best form of skills training for the work of tomorrow. As we know, everyday our industries are changing as more Automation is introduced which in results changes the nature of certain jobs and replaces it with more highly technical ones. 

 Through our effort to rebrand and rebuild our TVETs , we hope these institutes will be the forefront in the nation's ambition to embrace IR 4.0 and excel in it. There is no denying it's presence already in our markets, one would be at a loss if they looked the other way.

My team is also looking at how we can sign MoUs with countries that excel in Technical and Vocational training like South Korea, Japan, China, India,Australia, Ukraine and Germany. 

Therefore our TVETs can play a major role in skilling our youth, reskilling those above 60 and upskilling those already employed to ensure we remain competitive regionally and globally, I have made it a point to set this as a major priority in the Ministry.  

2019 is going to be daunting because we set the bar high in order to give every Malaysian hope for a better tomorrow. 

 I would like to wish all staff at the Ministry of Human Resources, friends, family and fellow Malaysians a truly productive and prosperous 2019. 

YB Kula Segaran
Minister of Human Resources 
Ipoh Barat MP 
31st December 2018