IPOH, March 28 — The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, told state leaders to pay appropriate attention to issues that are objective and ideas that are constructive, as raised during the State Youth Assembly Sitting.

Sultan Nazrin said that active youth involvement will revitalise jaded policies and refresh decrepit structures.

"The young are an important national asset. Twenty-eight per cent of the Malaysian population are youth, of which 7.8 million of them will be eligible voters in the 15th general election.

"They need to be fostered, guided, educated and be given the trust to take on greater responsibility to build a nation-state that is close knit and united, progressive and prosperous,” he said in his speech during the opening meeting of the Perak State Assembly.

The Perak Ruler also said the approach taken by the state to include the young by giving them a platform to broach ideas and vocalise their thoughts was wise and constructive.

He also said ground-breaking steps undertaken by the Perak Islamic Religious Council and Malay Customs to directly involve the young to participate in the Council, at various levels in the Baitulmal and mosque committees, should be expanded to various state committees and local authorities, in statutory bodies, institutions and foundations.

Sultan Nazrin also urged the state government to take meaningful steps to put a stop to food wastage.

"State departments should play the role model, starting with the amount of food ordered for events and functions, and during gatherings and meetings.

"Every household, school, institution of higher learning, place of worship, food operator, restaurant and hotel should refrain from excessive provision of food that can only end up in the bin,” he said.

He said that 17,000 tonnes of leftovers, which can feed three million citizens, are thrown away daily in this country.

He added that 4,080 tonnes of this is edible food that has been wasted.

"These figures rise by 10 per cent during Ramadan. The numbers reflect the gravity of food wastage happening today. Man must be educated to value food and adopt a no-wastage culture,” he said.

Talking about pollution, Sultan Nazrin said Malaysians are sorely lacking in awareness, indifferent to the pollution hazards of plastic that can poison food and the environment.

"Malaysia is the second highest in Asia for usage of plastic, at 69.54kg per capita. On average, Malaysians use 300 plastic bags per annum and discard more than 30,000 tons of plastic into the sea every year.

"This earned Malaysia a place on the global list of ocean plastic polluters. Plastic debris that end up in the water or on land take up to 400 years to decompose,” he said.

He said houses of worship, schools, non-governmental organisations and the youth should assist in educating the public to refrain from or reduce the use of plastic and avoid discarding plastic waste in surrounding water bodies or be left to decompose in the ground.

He pointed out that the recent natural disasters that have been occurring with increasing frequency, should be regarded as divine censure of humanity’s misbehaviour, turning nature against mankind.

"The obsession for infrastructure developments and the obsession for business profits cannot justify our greed to wreck the environment. Technological advancement alone cannot rein in disasters resulting from environmental devastation in the hands of man.