NEWS: Touching base

From Facebook chats to student movements, a deputy minister goes all out to connect with the next generation.

KNOWN for his unconventional ways, it’s hardly suprising that Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah is conducting his interview at a mamak restaurant.

It does make for a surreal experience however, when he pulls out an opposition newspaper column and sparks a discussion about local politics.
Saifuddin having an informal meeting with youth entrepreneurs to discuss his latest innitiative.- By AZMAN GHANI/The STAR

Holding court with the young people seated around him in such candour, it’s tough to be cynical about Saifuddin’s mission of reaching out to young Malaysians.

The phenomenon of politicians capitalising on new media platforms such as blogs and social networking websites may not be new, but having a minister chatting with you online is still novel enough.

“I started with a blog, which I still update, but it was too restrictive,” says Saifuddin.

“Facebook provides a casual setting for exchanges of ideas, and if I want to connect with young people I need to speak in their language. Naturally, this lead to my Facebook hour.”

Facebook feedback

Since April 1, Saifuddin’s Facebook hour has him live online every first and third Wednesdays of the month.

Due to its popularity, the “hour” has now been extended from 10pm to 12midnight.

Saifuddin’s Facebook foray is part of his “connecting young minds” project, or 3M (menyelami minda muda).

He admits that many were disbelieving about his online presence at first.

“We even uploaded a video of myself chatting on Facebook to convince everyone that I was for real.”

While not in the strastosphere of president Barack Obama’s millions, Saifuddin has garnered a respectable figure of about 3,500 Facebook friends so far.

“It’s not just filled with young people you know;there are quite a few young-at-heart professors as well,” he quips.

It is all very well to give students a soapbox, but is any topic taboo?

“Well, politics is a very hot topic, along with the price of food on campus,” says Saifuddin.

“A good deal of the discussions revolve around heavy issues, questions that any Malaysian citizen would ask; how serious is Umno about reform, is 1Malaysia just another propaganda tool, and of course, calls for the complete abolishment of the Universities and University Colleges Act (Auku).”

He speculates that students feel comfortable approaching him with any inquiry because of the sense of trust established between both parties.

“They are confident that I will not “expose” them if they approach me personally.

“I always believe that if you give young people a chance to speak up, they will.”

He relates an incident at a forum organised by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) with around 3,800 students in attendance.

“A first-year undergraduate stood up to passionately criticise the mainstream press.

“I can’t comment on his opinions, but judging from the claps he received, the majority of the hall was in agreement,” Saifuddin said with a smile.

The moral of the story is thus: “Whether or not we agree with each other is irrelevant - the point is that we are able to be direct and open about the issues at hand.”

Student empowerment is Saifuddin’s all-encompassing catchphrase.

“Rather than focusing on how to make graduates more marketable, I think it makes more sense to enrich their attributes and facilitate their personal development.

“Won’t this automatically lead to higher employability?”

The theme of student empowerment is well chronicled in the minister’s first e-book, Kalau Saya Mahasiswa, which provides an overview of the student movement in Malaysia since the 1960s.

A former student activist himself, Saifuddin’s view of student empowerment is rooted in the fact that authorities need to believe in the concept in order to put into practice.

In this vein, his first plan of action is to restructure the mission statements of every IPTA’s student affairs department.

“We want student affairs officers to be more pro-student, and this needs to be outlined in an official format.

“If there’s only talk about ‘building world-class universities’, the need to build a student’s potential is not addressed.”

Arguably, fine-tuning rhetoric is pointless if not translated on a practical level - a notion that Saifuddin concedes with.

“It is ironic that we continously stress that students need to think for themselves, yet they can’t even run their own elections on campus,” he sighs.

“But we’re moving in the right direction, especially after the Auku amendments. Change never happens overnight.”

Doing it for themselves

Another element of the 3M series is that of youth entrepreneurship, which Saifuddin plans to mobilise through the newly proposed Entrepreneurship Development Consultative Council.

The difference between this new body and its host of predecessors aimed at producing business-savvy youth is the framework of support provided.

“Before this, there was no ‘incubator’ for students outside their campuses and many had a hard time obtaining loans from banks because they lacked practical experience,” Saifuddin elaborates.

“Now, we not only want to help students manage their own start-ups while they’re studying, but also bring in young entrepreneurs to act as mentors.”

One such potential mentor is Micheal Teoh, the co-founder of Youth Entrepreneurs Malaysia (YEM).

“YEM has already done quite a few public talks and programmes at IPTAs,” says Teoh.

“The youth entrepreneurs who conduct these activities are all volunteers who want to inspire others to go down the path that they have.”

Saifuddin adds that students will be able to relate to entrepreneurs who were still charting their way to success.

“This way, you can actually see the process and work-ethics needed to be a successful entrepreneur.”

Although this pet project seems less controversial that others, Saifuddin is determined to boil down all his ventures to one core idea.

“Entrepreneurship is all about acting on your initiative - that’s empowerment right there.”