UKM News Official Portal

By  Radzuan Ghazali
Pix  Mohd Hairul Azmi Jahid

KUALA LUMPUR, 21 Nov. 2011 – Two Community Activity Centres of PERKASA@remaja UKM that provide facilities for various activities for the benefit of secondary school children were officially opened at the People’s Housing Centres in Sri Pantai dan Pantai Ria here yesterday.

Patron of PERMATA Negara, Datin Paduka Sri Rosmah Mansur who officiated the opening of the first two such centres in the country hoped such they  would help to foster positive values among participants that would be beneficial to them for their future.

She said some 750 youths, pioneers of the programme, were involved in various activities at the centres which include physical, leadership, academic, culture and sports.

Their involvement had been very positive and she was happy especially with some of the youth who took up small business ventures to increase their income to help their families.

She hoped KL City Hall can provide more sites to the centres to enable more youth to be involved in such activities.

Datin Paduka Rosmah was confident that the community PERKASA@remaja  programme will give a positive impact to the local community as it is aimed at bringing benefits them.

She hoped local communities will support and give their cooperation to ensure the success of such programmes with parents allowing their children to choose the activities they like to participate in.

Present at the ceremony were wife of the Minister of Federal Territory and Urban Wellbeing, Datin Nafisah Raja Nong Chik, KL City Mayor Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail; Vice Chancellor  UKM, Prof Tan Sri Dato' Wira Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin and Director  of  UKM Youth Empowerment Centre, Prof Dr Samsudin A. Rahim.

Prof Sharifah Hapsah said UKM plans to have an entrepreneurship talent  programme through the centres to give opportunities to youths to undertake small business ventures.

She described the setting up of the two centres at Sri Pantai and Pantai Ria as timely and wise to provide the various programmes to empower youths.

UKM, she said, is proud to be involved in the setting up of the centres not only to meet the needs of the youths and be involved in addressing various issues pertaining to them and especially those in depressed urban areas but to also study and carry out research to provide inputs for policy makers to enable them to strategise activities for the benefit the youths.