PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia needs more social media influencers in various fields that can add value to society, said digital entrepreneur Khairul Amin Kamarulzaman(pix).
Better known as Khairulaming on social media platforms, he said more influencers in areas such as education, innovation and technology were needed to produce a young generation of quality in the country.
“People always misunderstand, you don’t need education to be famous. It’s true because regardless of what you do and whether people like it or not, you can be famous. What’s important here is what kind of values you can offer to your followers.
“We need more influencers not only in the field of entertainment but also education, and also those who can be leaders in businesses that involve innovation. We can slowly improve the generation of influencers in Malaysia,“ he told the media after being a guest of the SKILLBOX@Kelab Malaysiaku programme series 2/2021 at the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia here today.
Khairul Amin, who has 6.7 million followers on various social media platforms, said the government could also provide guidelines to those interested in carving out a career as influencers.
“Unlike engineers who have to attend courses, an influencer is not a formal career, it is something that people build on their own.
“We are in an age where we can’t keep children away from social media because that thing is ingrained in them. So, instead of us hindering and putting pressure on them, we give them guidelines on how they can succeed in this field.
“Some become rich and famous from selling products. But others do not see the intricacies involved in the content. I hope in the future we can encourage them and give them proper guidelines,“ he said.
In the meantime, Khairul Amin said students are encouraged to explore skills that are not learned in formal classes such as coding, editing, storytelling and so on to prepare themselves in the current fierce competition.
“What I wish to emphasise to students is to focus on lessons but, at the same time, build skills that can be monetised one day, for example, coding for software... these skills are very valuable,“ he said.
In the SKILLBOX@Kelab Malaysiaku Series 2/2021, a total of 1,623 secondary students from 706 schools nationwide participated in the programme, which included pop quizzes and question and answer sessions with invited guests. -Bernama
