The government was looking at political transformation as a new model to understand the needs of the people and resolve their problems, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Najib said the model called for Barisan Nasional to understand the environment in which people lived and their problems.
“The environment is not the cyclical change that people go through but the structural changes in society.
“We must understand the expectations and the aspirations of the people, and their problems. To do this, we need a new model.
“If we don’t understand this or sense the pulse of the people, we cannot find a solution to their problems,” he said when he opened the BN Youth Job Fair at the Putra World Trade Centre yesterday.
Najib said this was the reason he had asked BN Youth to study this issue and come out with a summary of people’s problems, especially those involving youth.
He said the new model discarded the old approach, which gave priority to internal politics.
He said the old approach focused on branches and divisions of political parties, which came up with proposals urging the government to resolve their problems.
“We used to push the Human Resource Ministry for solutions but, in the new model, we don’t push the government for solutions but help find solutions for the government.”
He said the political transformation would complement changes and transformations initiated by the government, such as the Government Transformation Programme, Economic Transformation Programme, New Economic Model and the 1Malaysia concept.
Najib said BN could not afford to be complacent with what it had done as it had been in power since 1955.
He said it was facing a challenge to project itself as being relevant to the times, fresh, dynamic and capable of change.
He said the new BN was more dynamic, forceful and action-oriented; it did not wait for others to sound the call for change.
Najib said people also asked if the changes that had swept through Egypt, Tunisia and other countries would happen here.
“My answer is simple. While it’s stormy over there, we have increased our majorities in recent by-elections. We have a thriving democracy.”
He said the job fair offered 40,000 jobs and it was made possible through this new initiative.
“The message here is that the economy is thriving, which means there are many jobs available. There is growth without jobs, but this is growth with jobs. We have confidence in the private sector and government-linked companies.”
He said about 3.3 million jobs were expected to be created by 2020 and he had always insisted on new-entry projects creating jobs.
The three-day fair earned its way into the Malaysia Book of Records as the biggest career fair with more than 650 companies participating.
The initiative, led by BN Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, also created the BN Youth scholarship to attract top students to higher institutions of learning.
Najib received pledges amounting to RM16.5 million from universities and colleges for the scholarship.
He also handed over job-offer letters to youth who had secured jobs at the fair.
The fair introduced a barcode system where details of applicants are stored online and a barcode given to them.
Participants give their barcodes to prospective employers, who can download their details immediately.
For details, visit www.bnyouthjobfair.com and www.bnyes. com.my
