By Nadia Sapuan
Pictures by Abd Raai Osman

BANGI, 19 April 2017 – The young generation is the backbone of a country, said  Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Dr Yap Kain Ching @ Mary Yap Ken Jin.

She said the future belongs to the younger generation because they will play an important role in developing our country.

“In the future, you (young generation) will play an important role in developing our country and that’s why the Ministry of Higher Education wants to produce students who are holistic, balanced and have entrepreneurial skills as reflected in the National Higher Education Blueprint,” she said during her speech at ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Challenge 2017 (AYE Challenge 2017) officiation ceremony, recently.

“AYE Challenge 2017 is a good platform for you to learn, share and understand the challenges in the future, which is in line with the spirit of ASEAN: we dare to dream and we dare to share,” she said.

She added that through the program, students not only get knowledge of entrepreneurship, but they will also go through leadership training, which is an important element that students should have.

“I believe that one day, all of you here, will be a dynamic leader of your respective country. So, learn as much as you can and use the knowledge that you will get during this program and apply it wisely,” she said.

She advised participants of the programme to learn, share and establish networks with other participants from other countries and universities, so that they can share the knowledge even though they have returned to their respective countries.

A total of seven countries – Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Brunei, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam – participated in the AYE Challenge 2017, with aims to instil the spirit of entrepreneurship among university students and creating networks among ASEAN universities.