KUALA LUMPUR – Melaka must attract more high-value industries and create better-paying jobs if it hopes to retain its young people, says Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate for Pengkalan Batu Jason Tze-Xi Nathan.
The first-time candidate said the shortage of well-paying employment opportunities was among the biggest challenges facing young Melakans, many of whom leave the state for better prospects in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and elsewhere.
“My commitment to Melaka voters has been to bring back young Melakans to Melaka and to make Melaka a place where young Melakans can see their future in.”
“I commit to focusing on advocating and pushing the state government to focus on young people and bring in high-value jobs so that young Melakans can have a future here,” he told Scoop.
Jason said young people should not have to leave their hometowns simply because they could not find jobs that offered decent salaries and career prospects.
“They should have the option to stay back in Melaka and not feel like they are settling for something less,” said the treasurer of Melaka DAPSY.
He said attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI), particularly into high-value industries, would be essential to expanding employment opportunities and improving salaries.
Citing semiconductor companies Infineon and Texas Instruments as examples, Jason said such employers demonstrated the kind of investment Melaka should seek to attract.
“We need more of those. They are well known for paying decent salaries with very decent benefits.”
“Combined with our low cost of living, you can actually live quite a decent life in Melaka,” said the DAPSY Malaysia executive committee member.
He said the state needed to pursue two priorities simultaneously: bringing in more high-value jobs while ensuring the cost of living remained affordable.
Housing affordability was another concern, with Jason stressing that the state government needed a clear strategy to prevent accommodation costs from becoming an additional burden on younger residents.
“The state government needs to come up with a blueprint, a clear plan on how to fix this issue,” he said.
Describing himself as a millennial familiar with the digital era, Jason said younger politicians could bring fresh perspectives to policymaking, particularly as society navigates the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), globalisation and rapid technological changes.
He said policymakers needed to understand how these developments were reshaping the world of work and the expectations of younger generations.
However, reaching young voters remained a challenge, particularly those who had moved out of Melaka for employment but retained their voting addresses in the state.
Jason said his campaign would use social media to connect with these voters while also engaging their parents, who could encourage their children to return home and cast their ballots.
“We have to go after the parents, because for many, especially for Gen Z voters, younger voters, they may not know who to vote for.”
“We go down, we talk to the parents who are still in Melaka, we tell them, bring your children back to vote, and these are the issues, explain to your children these important issues, because they are the ones who will be the direct channel to their kids who are coming back,” he said.
He expressed hope that younger voters would make informed choices based on issues that would directly affect their future, noting that there were 1,441 first-time voters.
PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had earlier announced Jason as the coalition’s candidate for Pengkalan Batu.
He is set to face a multi-cornered contest against Bersatu’s Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee, Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Siti Aisyah Mahmood and Goh Han Koon of Bersama. – November 12, 2026