Muhyiddin appreciates contributions of youths during COVID-19 pandemic

Many of them, he said, were involved as frontline personnel in different segments of society including health, security and volunteerism, besides contributing creative and innovative ideas to help ease the affairs of their fellow citizens.

"Influential youth leaders, ranging from religious figures to artists, who have big following on social media have also supported the 'stay at home' campaigns in an effort to raise awareness among Malaysians on the importance of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).

"All of you are unsung heroes," he said in a message in conjunction with the National Youth Day 2020, today.

He also expressed hope that the group to continue to excel with a competitive attitude and be an asset to the country.

Muhyiddin said today's youth would also need to embrace the new normal following the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide.

He also stressed that the old lifestyle and way of doing things had to change to suit the current situation, especially during the implementation of the CMCO nationwide.

"That is the reason why the government has taken proactive measures not only to stop the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak but also to ensure that youths are not left behind," he said.

He said based on a survey conducted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports through the Institute for Youth Research Malaysia in March, it showed that 95.8 per cent of young people supported the government's financial assistance initiative through the additional economic stimulus package to assist those whose economic activities affected by COVID-19 while 78.7 per cent saw the initiative would be able to revive the country's economy.

"These findings give a bit of an indication that the plans made by this government are in line with the expectations of these young people. However, I believe there is still much more we need to do together to address the situation after the COVID-19 outbreak," he said, hoping that the nearly RM10 billion allocation announced by the government would benefit the group.

Meanwhile, the prime minister also announced that this year's National Youth Day celebration would be postponed to a later date as the country was still struggling with the outbreak.

He said, the early planning for National Youth Day 2020 celebration has already been made which reflected the government's willingness to work together to recognise the group as a major contributor to the nation's development direction.