Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg speaking at the awards presentation ceremony. — Picture by Roystein Emmor via Borneo Post Online
KUCHING, March 21 — Sarawak aspires to be the leader in economic development in Malaysia, said Premier of Sarawak Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg.
According to him, the state has the resources although it still had some catching up to do in terms of grooming talents to fulfil such aspirations.
“If possible, we aspire to be the leader in economic development in Malaysia. We have the resources, the only thing is the talent. So we have to upgrade talent development.
“Also, we must comply with international protocol and we must position ourselves there,” he said when closing the Sarawak Women of Tomorrow Bootcamp 2022 which was aired via the Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas) Facebook page today.
Abang Johari also stressed gender equality would no longer be an issue in the future, as the new era would place emphasis on the talent and calibre of a person rather than gender.
He believed that individuals of a high calibre, regardless of their race and gender, will be leaders.
“If people (have a high) calibre, he or she should lead — not based on race or gender. That is the future. The landscape will change even though at the moment, we still have the conventional concept.
“But the time will come. In the next 20 years, this concept will no longer be relevant as whoever can bring about change and upgrade the standard of living will be the leaders,” he said.
He added the time will come that gender is longer a criteria in leadership.
On the policy of having 30 per cent of women on board as decision makers, Abang Johari asked why just 30 per cent.
He further asked why not have 50 per cent, or even 60 per cent, of women at the decision-making level.
“Why limit it to 30 per cent? Why can’t you become the chairman of the board? Well, to be the chairman, you must be the leader. To be the leader, you must lead.
“To lead, you must have something new. If it is not new, you are a follower,” he pointed out, reiterating that gender equality was not an issue.
He stressed that what mattered more was the calibre and knowledge, as well as the willingness, of an individual to explore new ideas.
According to Abang Johari, what Sarawak was doing up to the year 2030 was exploring new ideas while carrying on the efforts to upgrade basic infrastructure including water, power, telecommunication and roads.
“Once we put in place this basic infrastructure, the communication will be in real time. That’s why I prefer to go direct to 5G, which is costly, but never mind. We find money to leapfrog to 5G.
“With 5G, the data and messages can be transmitted in real time. Those who can command this will be leaders, whether they are male or female. You start it, we follow you,” he said.
The Premier of Sarawak stressed it all boiled down to technology to move forward.
“To analyse, you must have a tool and that’s where a computer comes in. Now they call it artificial intelligence (AI), which is a process where a product is analysed by a software and that becomes the basis of it to produce products.
“AI does not recognise gender, so the new leadership of tomorrow will be a person who can command technology. With knowledge, he or she will be there as a leader. If not, you become a follower. That’s why in Sarawak’s case, we have to explore new things,” he said. — Borneo Post