The Federal Government’s Rakan Muda initiative, originally launched in the 90s, has been relaunched with a new focus on creativity and fostering young Malaysian talent.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the rebranding would attract more youths by opening up more avenues for them to contribute to national culture and realise their ideas for Malaysian society.
“It (Rakan Muda programme) is no longer functioning according to the categories set before by the government which are the Rakan Sukan, Rakan Wajadiri and so on.
“But now it will be open to all to be involved if there are talents to be highlighted since youths are known to have many creative ideas,” Bernama quotes him as saying at the programme’s relaunch in KL yesterday.
The new and improved Rakan Muda will have an initial pool of RM10 million this year to carry out its projects.
Khairy added that those aged 15 to 30 were invited to apply to participate in the programme. Registration for Rakan Muda is expected to commence in May, to coincide with Putrajaya’s Youth Festival event. Registrations can be filed at a dedicated website to be launched during the festival.
“Those selected after being assessed by an evaluation committee, will receive funding to carry out their projects,” Khairy said.
The new Rakan Muda also rolls out the Rakan Muda All-Stars initiative, which highlights the talents and accomplishments of established “mentor” creatives in Malaysia. At roll-out, the All-Stars include exemplary youths such as pioneering skateboarder Joe Ipoh, video artist Fairuz “Blur” Sulaiman, independent publisher Maplé Comics, and the Masakini Theatre troupe.
It will be intresting to see how the Youth and Sports Ministry couples the rebranded Rakan Muda programme with the already-established 1Malaysia For Youth (1M4U) volunteer initiative, also targeted at young Malaysians.
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