Youth leaders must uphold struggle of predecessors

The Deputy Prime Minister said the opposition would always look for ways to find fault in the transformation programmes the government undertook and was going to take.

"The situation now is there are people who want the 'locomotive' we have placed on the track to be derailed and plunge into a ravine, which might bring a great danger to our country.

"That's why as future leaders, you should protect this train which is on the right track so that our transformation programmes do not fail. Failure will mean Malaysia will not achieve its vision to be a developed nation," he said.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said this when closing the National Student Leadership Convention and Discourse which was attended by about 3,500 students of local universities and colleges at the Putra World Trade Centre here today.

Also present were Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek and Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

As future leaders, Muhyiddin said they should be aware that Malaysia had set the target to be a developed nation by 2020 and thus, needed to be competitive and at the forefront to ensure the goal was achieved.

"There's only seven years left, the most important question we have to ask is whether Malaysia can meet the goal by 2020...it all lies on your shoulders as the future leaders of the country.

"Although the answer is 'yes', it will not he be easy because the world situation today is not as it was before. We cannot be sitting still and assume Malaysia will become a developed nation," he said.

He also suggested that the convention be held yearly as a platform for students of higher education institutions to discuss the future of the country, besides sosio-economic development, politics and other matters.

At the event, Muhyiddin also launched the convention's logo and accepted the 11 resolutions adopted at it since its deliberations the past two days.

Meanwhile, during a question and answer session, Muhyiddin explained that the country's plan to make Malaysia a world education hub by 2020 was not mere rhetorics but had been started.

He said among others, famous universities were being allowed to set up branch campuses in the country and Malaysian universities had been asked to work to be on par or even better than the top universities in the world.

He also said the government was also considering awarding Public Service Department scholarships to diploma and degree students who were more that 25 years old.

Asked about the Barisan Nasional's ability to wrest back the states it lost in the last general election (GE), Muhyiddin said he was optimistic of a 'reverse tsunami'even in PAS's stronghold Kelantan in the upcoming GE.