VIDEO | 15.45 min

Umno Youth, which has traditionally been the radical wing of Umno, must now lead the party to become more centrist in its outlook, says its chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

"In 1970s, it led the change for Umno to become more right wing and radical Malay, Now it must lead the way to be more centrist and multi-ethnic in its outlook, even though not in membership due to the party (rules).

NONE "To be radical today is not to be right wing, to be radical today in Umno is to be centrist because that is the radical position," Khairy says in an interview with KiniTV .

As such, he said, he had led the Youth wing to transform from an "out of touch" right wing organisation to something that would be relevant to the young people of today.

"I say you can still do your demonstrations and police reports and all that, but it has to be more than that.

"It has to be service-oriented. We have to offer young people something and I think, in my own small way, that small transformation has happened in Umno Youth," Khairy says.

Among the services provided by the 'new' look Umno Youth were programmes such as job fairs, scholarships and assisting the youth with home ownership.

He admitted his effort to change Umno Youth coincided with his own political evolution to a more centrist position.

"At that time, I was also a creature of Umno Youth, I was politically born in Umno Youth and at that point of time, Umno Youth was very much attached to the vision of its (ethno-centric) existence.

"I realised, after looking at the 2008 (general election) results... Even in 2004, the promises that were made by the top leaders in government, they have already made that shift, the party had made that shift," Khairy says.

Watch the full interview on KiniTV.