Johor reverses decision, accepts 15-30 as definition of ‘youth’
PUCHONG: In a 180 degrees shift, the Johor state government had decided to follow Putrajaya’s lead in defining youths as those aged between 15 and 30 years of age.
This came a day after Johor menteri besar Sahruddin Jamal issuing a statement yesterday stating that the state government would maintain the “youth” definition between 15 and 40.
Sahruddin said that the Johor state government was in favour of keeping the youth definition capped at 40 to promote idealism, activism and intellectualism.
He added that many government-funded programmes were also targeting the 18 to 40 group.
Reversing Sahruddin’s announcement, Johor state executive councillor Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali said the state government would abide by the decision made by Putrajaya and the Pakatan Harapan leadership council.
“We realise that the changes to the law will have implications on youth movements, especially in terms of registration (of members).
“We stress that this is a legislative matter. It’s not a policy,” he said.
Recently, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman tabled a motion to lower the ceiling age for youth in Parliament, which is expected to be gazetted on December 31, 2021.
“This two-year period is sufficient for state governments to review and expand the engagement to implement grassroots understanding of the matter,” he was reported saying.
