KJ wants MyCorps volunteers take Malaysia to global level

KUALA LUMPUR: "Show to the world that Malaysia is there to help" - were the words uttered by Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar to 40 participants of the MyCorps volunteer programme who will be stationed in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for 21 days from July 15 to Aug 13 this year.
Speaking to the volunteers at the Meet & Greet MyCorps South Asia Mission 1/2017 event today, he said they should make full use of the volunteer programme to have a strong impact on the local community in both these countries.
"MyCorps is our way of changing lives, not only theirs (the people of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) whom we are helping, but of your own. When you leave MyCorps, you will be a different person, with better personal growth, perspective, as well as achievement in life," he said.
Khairy said the mission was not only aimed at taking the Malaysian brand to the global level with the image of a fast-developing nation or a modern Islamic state, but also to prove to the world that Malaysia was a nation with a big heart, especially when it comes to helping needy countries.
According to a statement from the organisers, Mission 1/2017 will see the participation of 40 youth volunteers comprising 15 men and 25 women, who are graduates and students of public and private tertiary institutions as well as non-governmental youth organisations.
Depending on their background, skills and personalities, the participants will be sent to either Sri Lanka or Bangladesh to carry out volunteer and humanitarian work for the local communities in areas which have been affected by natural disasters and war.
Commenting further, Khairy said Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were selected according to the universal issues which affected them.
"One humanitarian crisis on our own grounds is that affecting the Rohingya people. The ones who come here are only a small number, but the majority of them end up in Bangladesh … that is why we chose that country for this mission.
"Secondly is the post-war reconstruction factor ... one of the countries which has been ravaged by war is Sri Lanka. I want volunteers there to see how a country has been split on racial and religious grounds, they went through decades of civil wars," he said.
Khairy said through this mission, participants could learn to become better Malaysians and contribute their experience and expertise to the country when they return later. — Bernama