By Tan Mei Kuan
Some 62 orphans from multiple welfare homes were feted at the state-level hari raya celebration on Wednesday, June 5 held at Indera Mulia Stadium, Ipoh. The lively occasion was graced by HRH Sultan Nazrin Shah and HRH Raja Permaisuri Perak, Tuanku Zara Salim.
Present were Raja Muda Perak, Raja Jaafar Ibni Al Marhum Raja Muda Musa, Raja Puan Besar Perak, Raja Nadzatul Shima Ibni Al Marhum Sultan Idris A’fifullah Shah, Raja DiHilir Perak, Raja Iskandar Dzulkarnain Ibni Almarhum Sultan Idris A’fifullah Shah and Raja Puan Muda Perak, Tunku Soraya Binti Almarhum Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah.
“As a responsible state government, we don’t just concentrate on economic growth and investments. In fact, while rebuilding the beloved nation, we focus on balancing it all with an increase of the Happiness Index of the people,” said Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu in his opening remarks.
To realise this dream, said Faizal, efforts at creating revenues while maintaining a sustainable environment are made. This includes sourcing for traditional resources such as logging, mining or quarrying.
“The state government has identified the service sector and the high-technology manufacturing sector, which are aligned with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) and the digital economy, to be among the major economic pillars of the state. The effort has been fruitful, as just last week, five Global Business Services (GBS) companies have agreed to expand their operations to Ipoh. They will invest a total of RM486 million beginning the third quarter of 2019. This is expected to create 1500 new jobs with some in the high-income category,” he added.
“The state government hopes that this will reduce the outflow of human resource to other states and at the same time encourage Perakeans to return to work in their own state. The collective effort is expected to provide added-value job opportunities to local graduates in order to solve the unemployment issue. Statistics showed that 23 per cent of over 20,000 graduates in Perak is still unemployed,” he stated.
Plus, it will help unify youths with their parents to strengthen the family institution which, invariably, contributes to an increase in the happiness index of the people.
