KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh today encouraged the youth community to upskill and reskill, especially during weekends, so as to further enhance their skillsets while supplementing their incomes.

She also urged youths to "follow their passions” while working to their strengths, adding that "no economic downturn can hinder when you have the appropriate skills”.

Yeoh was speaking today at the SEEKscapes event, billed as ‘public-private partnership youth career and development’ initiative’ and which was hosted by JobStreet Malaysia.

She also called on businesses to host weekend training courses for the youth community to supplement the ministry’s Skills for Life programme which is being run by the Youth and Sports Skills Training Institute (ILKBS) to empower youths with additional skills.

This programme is held on weekends using a ‘Do It Yourself’ approach and tailored specially for youths from the B40 and M40 groups, as well as at-risk and minority youths and those who are already working aged 40 and below.

"Young people should not be afraid to step out of their comfort zones to acquire new skillsets. Do embrace a strong mindset and spend time engaging with others to build your own networks.

"Even if you have not done well in your SPM, you can also become very successful in life,” she further said, adding that she knew numerous people in this category who had gone on to forge successful careers.

She commended JobStreet Malaysia for hosting such a successful event, and was particularly impressed that there was personality profiling for attendees to help them learn more about themselves while coming up with suitable career suggestions.

Thousands of youths had signed up to attend this two-day event, which also saw the participation of hiring companies such as Teleport, Sports Direct, Genting Malaysia, Big Bad Wolf Books and Sunway Berhad.

Also present at the event was SEEK Asia chief growth officer Chiam Hsing Ren. SEEK is the holding company for JobStreet Malaysia.

"SEEKscapes by JobStreet is a great platform for the youths in Malaysia to unlock their potential by discovering their strengths, personality, passion and interests via the various exciting activities planned at the event,” said Chiam.

"JobStreet understands that youths who are stepping into the workforce for the first time may find this journey of discovery to be daunting and at times confusing.

"Thus the event is developed to provide them with a platform to learn and understand their personalities in a fun and refreshing way, starting with a personality quiz that helps will generate a digital infographic about themselves that comes with some suitable career suggestions,” he added. — Bernama