935 Youth Organisations Have Amended Constitution To Be In Line With Amendments On Youth Age Limit In Act 668 - Hannah

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27  (Bernama) -- A total of 935 out of 8,189 youth organisations registered with the Office of the Registrar of Youth Organisations (ROY) have taken steps to amend their respective constitutions as last Aug 25, in line with the amendments to the Youth Societies and Youth Development Act 2007 (Act 668).

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said all youth organisations registered under ROY are required to ensure their constitutions comply with the amendment, which will come into effect on Jan 1 next year.

 “The amendment to Act 668 sets the age limit for youth from 40 years to before reaching the age of 30 and was agreed upon in the Youth Development Cabinet Committee Meeting Number 1 of 2023, and announced during the National Youth Consultative Council Media Conference in the same year.

“This amendment only involves youth organisations registered with ROY, while other organisations registered with the Malaysian Registrar of Societies (ROS) are not affected,” she said during an oral answer session at the Dewan Negara today.

She was responding to a question from Senator Datuk Abdul Halim Suleiman, who wanted to know the outcome of the engagement session on the Youth Leadership Transition Plan organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) regarding the enforcement of the new youth age limit next year

Hannah said the amendment to Act 668 was in line with international standards, which provide for a youth age limit starting from 15 to before reaching 30 years.

Although the amendment was passed in 2019, she said, its implementation was postponed several times until 2026 to provide room for transition.

She said KBS and the related agencies have implemented various advocacy, consultation and capacity building programmes to assist youth organisations in implementing the age limit transition.

Responding to Abdul Halim’s suggestion that the age limit be raised again to 35 or 40 years, Hannah said that all parties need to respect the Parliament's decision and not arbitrarily change policies that have been legally decided.

"If laws can be amended at will due to external pressure, then our legal process is not respected. If an 18-year-old can vote and contest in elections, then a 28 or 30-year-old is also mature to lead," she said.

She said the change reflects the need to adapt the country's youth policy to current realities, including the social networking methods and engagement of today's young generation, which mostly take place online.

"If we continue to stick with the old approach and do not give space to real youth, then the country's youth policy will be considered a failure," she said.

-- BERNAMA