KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is optimistic that the country will not run short of young leaders following the implementation of the Youth Development Act soon.

He said the implementation of the act, which sets an age limit of 40 for youth leaders, would give an opportunity to trained young leaders to helm the youth movements much earlier.

"They would have more time to demonstrate their capability as leaders. I am confident and optimistic that we will not be short of talented and capable leaders as we always emphasise on quality leadership," he said.

He said this to reporters when asked to comment on the implementation of the act which would result in many of the current youth leaders to relinquish their posts.

Earlier, Najib opened the National Young Leaders Convention and launched the National Youth Council's Training Series for Young Leaders organised by the Malaysian Youth Council (MBM), here.

He said the past youth leaders could continue to be of service to the youth movements by sharing their experience and knowledge besides advising the new leaders to bring about overall development.

"There will be a period of adaptation and it will not weaken the youth movement, in fact, it will probably be more suited to the spirit and aspiration of the youths as a group," he said.

Earlier in his speech, Najib said the youths must have the idealism to become great and respected leaders.

"The idealism must be based on the environment when they were still teenagers which would mould the leaders' attitude and character to shape the future of the individuals and community surrounding them," he said.

He said his late father, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia's second prime minister, had the idealism to fight rural poverty due to his childhood experience in Pahang.

"My father told me and my younger siblings of the stories when he was studying at a school beside the Sungai Pahang without wearing shoes, without blackboard and did arithmetic on sand.

"(Following that experience) he (Tun Abdul Razak) had the enthusiasm (idealism) as he had seen the poverty, suffered the hardship which had moulded his attitude and thinking and eventually, he became a leader who wanted to eradicate poverty," Najib said.

Najib said that having idealism for a cause was most important so that the youths would not become passive leaders but would instead be leaders who were concerned about the wellbeing of the community and their environment.

He said leadership for the young generation must be developed as they would determine the success of the country's aspiration for development under vision 2020.

He also outlined four important commitments for the government, MBM leadership and the role of the youths as a whole to build a young generation of quality.

The first commitment was to create human capital with a first class mind and having the necessary skills and information; the second commitment was to create youths with positive mind; thirdly was to strengthen the social wellbeing of the community; and fourthly was to raise the quality of life for the youth and rakyat (people), he said.

-- BERNAMA