The following is Selangor Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari’s full 2021 New Year address, translated.
Alhamdulillah, all praises and gratitude be to Allah for giving us the gift of life and the strength to continue fighting the good fight.
Amid all the chaos brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, I pray that the people of Selangor will continue to be protected by the Almighty.
I understand that the rapid increase in Covid-19 cases, especially in the very state we so cherish, has given rise to feelings of anxiety and concern among us all.
However, we must still continue with life and with work, to accrue knowledge and build ties with one another, albeit, through new norms that conform to the standard operating procedure because at the end of the day, our health is in our hands.
I would like to acknowledge that there are many among us who are going through a distressing time. There are those who have been laid off and there are those who have no choice but to shut down their business operations.
In realising this matter, the state government has organised multiple initiatives in order to assist the people who have lost their sources of income, to help them rise back up again and continue their lives with dignity.
Starting with the first phase of the Selangor economic stimulus package, the Selangor Cares Package, up to the third, a few immediate measures, as well as some for the long-term, have been drawn up to uplift the people’s lives.
A few types of taxes have been deferred, while a few others were given some relaxation with the state government bearing the extra costs.
All these were drafted with the hope of lightening the people’s burdens.
A few programmes were also planned in the Belanjawan Selangor 2021 (2021 Selangor Budget) to encourage entrepreneurial activities as well as to spur the entirety of the ‘job creation’ initiatives.
One of the main programmes was the Niaga Darul Ehsan (NaDi) initiative that provides business loans of as low as RM1,000 for the Selangor people to start a business.
Other programmes include the Selangor Kerjaya (Selangor Jobs) initiative which aims to create 10,000 jobs for the Industrial 4.0 businesses through the development of new skills and through upskilling and reskilling; as well as the Selangor Freelancers programme for those who require flexibility in search of alternative income sources.
The state government is also vigorously preparing a few platforms to enable Selangor people of all races, ages and genders to take part in the gig economy by organising the e-Kitchen with Grab and e-Bazaar with Shopee.
Also assisted were those who wished to work with e-hailing companies but did not own a motor licence — we provided them with the Roda Darul Ehsan (RiDE) initiative.
In our bid to encourage more people to embrace the digital shift, the Selangor government is offering a few innovations that will soon make life easier.
For business owners participating in the Workforce Management Digitalisation Programme (Produtk), a management system which is set to propel them towards IR 4.0 will be soon introduced.
Also new is the Rakan Digital Selangor (Selangor Digital Friends) that has appointed 1,000 ambassadors to help the people throughout the state be more digitally savvy.
These are all important because, then, we will be more prepared to face any kinds of challenges or economic obstacles in the future, especially when the war on Covid-19 is not yet won.
Despite the downgraded Fitch Ratings on Malaysia’s sovereign rating to BBB+ from A- as well as the decisions by several tech giants such as Tencent, Google and Amazon to pull out their investments from our shores, Selangor will continue to mobilise all our efforts to drive the fintech, modern agriculture, film and cyber-gaming sectors to continue staying competitive. This will be carried out via a large state investment initiative known as the Selangor Innovation Fund.
A RM100 million grant from there will benefit startup operators as well as entrepreneurs, setting in motion a string of benefits like employment opportunities for all layers of the society.
To that end, the Selangor government wishes to create ‘unicorn’ companies that will yield billion-dollar returns and propel our nation into the global arena.
It is with hope that the year 2021 will herald an abundance of blessings, good health and prosperity for all the people of Selangor, with not a single soul left behind.
To Allah we extend our hopes and prayers.
