MALAYSIAN PM'S WIFE: INVESTING IN CHILDREN, FIRST STEP TOWARDS BUILDING PROSPEROUS WORLD

From Hafizah Kamaruddin

NEW YORK, April 17 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian prime minister's wife Rosmah
Mansor has called for the empowerment of children, saying investing in
their future is the first step towards building a prosperous, peaceful and
harmonious world.

"Children are our investment for the future. There should be a concerted
effort
to ensure there is a synergy among us so that children's voices are heard and
their spaces protected," the prime minister's wife said.

Addressing the Women's International Forum's "First Ladies Speak" at the
United Nations here, Rosmah, in her address titled "Investing in Children for a
Better Tomorrow", stressed the importance of providing good education to
children.

Well-educated children, she said, would likely to be healthier, more
productive
and better citizens, leading to fewer incidence of social ills such as drug
abuse, unemployment or crime.

"They should be empowered to maximise their potentials as a productive human
being," she added.

The Prime Minister's wife said that early investment in human capital would
produce invaluable resources for a nation's economic, technological and
societal development.

At the special convention chaired by forum president Amy Hamidon, Rosmah
was joined by Lorna Golding, the wife of Jamaica's prime minister.

Addressing the international audience, among them wives of diplomats and
wives
of representatives accredited to the United Nations, Rosmah stressed that
although formal education was important, the first teachers must be the parents,
not the schools.

"Since no matter how much education is being imparted formally, social ills
can
still occur if the family environment is dysfunctional," she said.

Rosmah, who is patron of Children in Hope Foundation Malaysia, said
investing
in children's education would have "a snowballing effect as it can make
subsequent education much more effective, enhancing their school performance and
reducing the need for repetition of grades."


This would contribute not only to the inculcation of values, ethics and
roles, but also ultimately shape the nation's economic growth and social
cohesion, she said.

"On the contrary, countries that neglect early education will eventually
find themselves not only losing out but will struggle to move their economies
forward and create progress in their societies," she said.

Rosmah, who is the Permata Negara Policy Executive Committee chairman, also
shared Malaysia experience, particularly in running the Permata Negara
programme.

The programme, which has a tagline of "Every Child Is Precious", emphasises
on educating children below the age of four from underprivileged families in
rural and among urban poor.

She also spoke on the need to prepare children to be global citizens and
said that early sensitisation to multi cultural differences as well as
engagement and interactions with others across the world through the ICT were
critical to the appreciation, respect and ability to work in a diverse world.

"The optimisation of learning, however, should be a continuous process
starting from early childhood education and care right up to the tertiary
level," she said.

-- BERNAMA