Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak wants undergraduates to change their ‘wage earner’ mentality to become entrepreneurs who can offer employment to other individuals.

The prime minister said undergraduates must challenge themselves to choose the field of entrepreneurship that could promise a more meaningful future.

Citing Chinese global icon Jack Ma (photo) as an example, Najib said the former began on a modest scale in a small apartment, but today, he is among the richest individuals in the world.

“So, I want our mentality to change, I don’t want the mentality that upon leaving the university, becoming a wage earner is in our head. We must challenge ourselves.

“I believe the field of entrepreneurship can become a catalyst in enriching ourselves and the nation,” he said during the ‘Bicara Santai’ session at the “Varsity Entrepreneurship Skills and Talents” (VEST) 2017 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), in Kuala Lumpur tonight. 

Actor Fizo Omar was the moderator of the session which was also attended by Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK) Minister Hamzah Zainuddin. 

VEST 2017 was a joint initiative by the KPDNKK together with Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (PNS). It is one of the programmes by the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) and a driver for the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) policy.

Najib, who is also the finance minister, said the government constantly provided various initiatives and training to develop the TN50 generation to be skillful at all times.

“We must become on-line or e-commerce entrepreneurs so that the product could be marketed globally instead of being restricted conventionally.

Meanwhile, Najib hoped undergraduates involved in VEST would become great entrepreneurs in the future.

He said they must have the determination to succeed by having the mentality to become champions including at the international level by capitalising the Malaysian Global Innovations and Creativity Centre in Cyberjaya.

Thus, Najib said the government was willing to consider aid that could be given to the university that emerged as the champion.

In the entrepreneurship contest, three of the 10 teams that advanced to the final round of the VEST entrepreneurship programme 2017 presented their business ideas in front of the prime minister tonight.

Universiti Teknologi Petronas which came up with the idea ‘Solvieno’ that provides 450,000 job opportunities on-line won the first prize of RM25,000.

Meanwhile, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia won the second and third prize respectively and received RM15,000 and RM10,000. 

UPM presented the idea “Serdang Cendol” and UKM presented the idea “Fast Print".

- Bernama