A meaningful research journey with underserved youth in Penang

Through the Bridges to the Future: ASEAN Youth Employment programme, the ASEAN Foundation just finished the initial research to explore the current trend of Youth Job Market and Skills Demand across the region. A number of courageous young researchers were involved in the research process.

Sharran Loganadzan is one of them. The ASEAN Foundation was glad that this well-known debater in Malaysia contributed to the research by conducting field interview for 50 underserved youth in Penang as a Survey Enumerator. Sharran’s genuine dedication and commitment towards youth empowerment has brought him to this journey. He admitted that the research has allowed him to understand more and broaden knowledge about the job market and skills demand that he found essentials for youth to keep building their future, especially in the new normal – post pandemic recovery.

“I find this survey very impactful and meaningful, as it is conducted right in time. In this day and age, youth employability and skills demand are an emerging issue that need to be addressed. I strongly believe the COVID-19 has tremendously transformed economic landscape and labor market not only in Malaysia but worldwide,” he said.

This teacher trainee student majoring history studies from Institute of Teacher Education Campus Darulaman, Jitra, Kedah, has gained another valuable experience in from his journey as a Survey Enumerator. Sharran found the most interesting finding is that youth need to be listened to and triggered. He believes that youth have fresh, powerful and creative ideas to put forward for betterment as well as need to be celebrated equally and molded with SDG values.

Since he focused on reaching out underserved youth, particularly persons with disabilities (PWD), Sharran learned new things with so much meaningful value, more than he could describe. Despite facing challenges in interacting, communicating, and connecting with aforementioned groups of youth, he successfully enriched his skills.

“It was a wonderful and meaningful experience for me. I enrich my communication skills, networking, time management skills, critical thinking, project management and even have a better understanding of data analysis and public relations. The moments, memories and good people I gained from this research are a pure blessing. I am truly for such an opportunity,” Sharran explained.

In this day and age youth need to become a job creator rather than a job seeker in order to sustain That is one of new insights Sharran grasped from his research journey in Malaysia. He now understands that a combination of education and experience is essential for character building.

“Research and data collection is an eye-opening way to instill and educate youth with values. Plus, green-collar jobs are a demanding job market for youths in the future. Awareness regarding the importance of digital literacy, SDG values and global citizenship is still lacking in youth,” he added.

Sharran also shared how the research result would benefit youth in the national context of his country, Malaysia. He began with Malaysian Youth Index. He strongly believes that the findings would contribute to positive youth development (PYD). Moreover, he found that unemployment rate among PWD, gender bias/ inequality in job market, digital literacy among youngsters, SDG awareness and the challenges faced by the marginalized youth are key issues that need to be highlighted.

“This research would be a great guidance and reference for youth related NGO`S to design programs, training, and come up with practical mentorship events. I might raise these issues to the ministry in a partnership with Malaysian Youth Council,” Sharran came up with optimistic idea.

Finally, he believes that the research findings and the Bridges to the Future programme will impact beneficially to guide, prepare, and provide good input for the formation of Youth Action Plans (youth competency), policy making and decision making (youth employability) for the stakeholders in time.