The government needs to provide more new job opportunities to solve the unemployment problem in society more effectively as well as improve ordinary people’s socioeconomic status.

Currently, we produce about 220,000 graduates yearly, but only about 130,000 new jobs that require graduates are created in the economy each year.

This excess of supply over demand depresses the starting salaries of these fresh graduates, thus making it difficult for them to meet their financial obligations, such as PTPTN loan repayments, their families and high costs of living in urban areas.

This in turn creates frustration, despair and growing resentment in the youth against the government and political system.

The Malaysian government needs to invest and channel sufficient funds towards establishing new jobs as well as the expansion of existing jobs, such as:

1. Significantly increasing the agricultural workforce

In Malaysia, only 0.4 million hectares of the total 8 million hectares of agricultural land is cultivated for the production of vegetables, fruits, fish and dairy products.

In addition, Malaysia has a high dependence on foreign countries for food. With this, it cannot be denied that the food security status of our country is weak.

This fact emphasises the urgent need to significantly expand agricultural activities in our country.

The government needs to urge more Malaysians, particularly the youth, to work in the agricultural sector, by integrating technology and modern techniques in agricultural activities in order to attract them.

Of course, the government firstly needs to ensure that sufficient land throughout the country is available and prioritised for agriculture.

Such land needs to be seriously protected by the government from evictions and commercial projects by GLCs and private developers.

2.  Processing waste to useful materials

Given that our government is transitioning to a more eco-friendly and green economy and administration, it’s time we utilise our domestic waste for energy generation and production of useful materials.

Organic waste can be processed into an energy source through the Waste to Energy (WTE) process. It can also be processed into animal feed for livestock.

Plastic waste can be recycled to produce other plastic items (recycled plastic).

Therefore, the government needs to carefully research and further develop the waste processing industry so that it becomes a major job sector in the country.

The relevant ministries and departments should be allocated sufficient funds to set up the required facilities for waste processing throughout the country.

The operation of these facilities should be contracted out to local SMEs, with the proviso that 90% of the workforce consists of Malaysians.

3.  Care services for the elderly

Given the fact that our population is getting older, it’s very important that the government makes elderly care services an important industry and expands it throughout the country.

These services should be conducted as state-supported initiatives, whereby social workers and medical workers visit and help families with elderly members.

Also, more government-operated elderly daycare centres need to be established, as well as state-supported social programmes for the elderly that improves their quality of life.

In implementing the above steps, it’s crucial that the government seriously takes into account several important factors, such as:

(i) Enforcing the payment of sufficiently high wages by employers, to enable their workers to live with dignity, especially in today’s economy.

(ii) Imposing strict conditions and quotas on employers throughout the country, such that they prioritise local workers in their respective workforces, instead of foreign workers.

(iii) Enacting policies to ensure that companies that incorporate AI and automation also provide sufficient job opportunities to citizens who want to work. It’s important that the utilisation of machines to cut costs and generate greater profits, doesn’t result in the denial of people’s fundamental right to earn a decent living through work.

(Raveen Jeyakumar is a writer who is passionate about social and environmental issues, and whose work can be found at reform-the-system.com.)