By Christopher Lidom and Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, July 25: Youth who aspire to become politicians should not rush into it, says Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He noted that the right to be a political candidate had been lowered from 21 to 18 years old following the passing of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill in Parliament in 2019.
However, he said this does not mean that everybody reaching the age of 18 should rush into contesting in elections.
“If everyone wants to be a candidate and contest, you will not enjoy life.
“You only live once. You have to go through courtship, marriage, raising a family, and building a career. Normally, it takes a while.
“Only after you’ve reached your late 30s or 40s, then that is, in my observation, a good time for you to put yourself as a candidate. Not too late, not too early,” he said when speaking at a press conference held at Borneo Cultures Museum today.
Nonetheless, Abdul Karim, who is also Sarawak Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development, stressed that it does not mean that he disagrees with the thought of youth joining politics as it all depends on the individual.
He explained that one requires wisdom in politics which takes many years to develop, or when they have acquired a lot of life experience, they can put themselves in politics and contest in elections.
“Many might not agree with me, but personally, as I see it, don’t rush into politics. Enjoy life if you are a young boy. (Go) fall in love, go into courtship and build your career. After you have attained that, raise a family, and then you can go into politics.
“Because once you rush into politics, you might not be able to look after your career, and you cannot look at politics purely as a career,” he added.
Abdul Karim noted that there are young politicians like Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who set up the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA), and Julau MP Larry Sng, who contested in the 2001 General Election at the age of 21 and is now the president of Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).
He also said former Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Razak was only 23 years old when he first became an MP but stressed that the latter was born into a family of politicians.
“From that family itself, they can learn. But if you are new in politics and are trying to build up your career in politics, it will be very tough,” he emphasised. — DayakDaily
