SERDANG: The Felda Settlers' Day and Rural Entrepreneurs Carnival will be combined next year, targeting two million visitors, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Rural and Regional Development Minister said the event would be hosted by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry.
"God willing, next year I am determined, together with the new secretary-general (Datuk Muhd Khair Razman Mohamed Annuar), that the Felda Settlers' Day must be supported by the ministry.
"If last year KUD@ Putrajaya was visited by 1.5 million visitors, with the support from the first to the fifth generation of Felda, God willing, we aim for two million visitors for Felda Settlers' Day next year," he said.
He said this in a speech after attending the presentation ceremony for the Felda Excellence Award (AKRF), Exemplary Mosque Award (AMC) and Tokoh Imam Felda Award (ATIF) at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (Maeps), here.
The Felda Settlers' Day 2024 celebration was held for three days starting from July 12 at the Maeps and not for just one day as previously held.
The Rural Entreprenuers Carnival or KUD, an annual event under KKDW, is held to promote products made by local entrepreneurs and to give a positive perception of the quality of rural entrepreneurs' products to Malaysians.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said he was also coordinating with other relevant agencies to ensure that childern on Felda settlers would receive adequate education opportunities.
"This aims to enhance infrastructure and provide educational opportunities to the third, fourth, and fifth generations of Felda settlers, particularly in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)."
He added that this was part of efforts to modernise Felda's educational initiatives, incorporating fields like artificial intelligence and robotics.
Besides TVET, Ahmad Zahid expressed hope for the younger generation in the settlement areas to master religious knowledge from an early age.
For this purpose, he suggested that kindergartens under Felda's supervision also implement pre-Tahfiz programmes like those in the Community Development Department (Kemas) kindergartens to strengthen Quranic education for children.
"This initiative aims to integrate Quranic memorisation and religious practices from an early age, fostering a balanced development of worldly and spiritual knowledge," he said.