Muda and the power of youth
PETALING JAYA: With 2020 being a year that saw nothing but political squabbles – from the toppling of one government in February to the attempted toppling of the newer one in December, maybe it’s really time for a new batch of leaders to take charge in Malaysia.
At least, that is what former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman thinks.
“Malaysia deserves better,” he told FMT in a special interview.
“(The country deserves) a new batch of leadership, a more energetic batch, not just the same leaders who have been there for the past two, three, four decades.”
It may sound like wishful thinking, but the Muar MP believes that shaking up the current political landscape is the only way forward. Of course, he does not plan to do it alone.
The 28-year-old is eagerly backed by his new party, the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda), and the young minds that are a part of it.
Founded in September as the country’s first youth-centric party, Muda is still awaiting registration by the Registrar of Societies (RoS).
Some of its supporters include co-founder Radzi Tajuddin, who was part of the National Economic Action Council, activist Amir Abdul Hadi, and former Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) president and CEO Jalil Rasheed. All are youthful leaders, with Jalil being the oldest at 38.
According to Syed Saddiq, breaking through traditional political barriers would just be the first step. The next would be working towards unlocking Malaysia’s true potential.
“Muda is going to bring in a new, refreshed, energetic batch of leaders and we want to ensure that the youth representation is there. We want to ensure that multiculturalism is enforced in every single sector of decision-making.”
“It’s lean and mean, but at the same time, it’s there to truly disrupt the old style of Malaysian politics that’s still rampant today,” he said, adding that the least the party could do was prevent the country from regressing.
The repeated calls for youth political participation may be tiresome for the public. Even for him, political life is a “slightly boring and stressful” one.
However, he said it is also “unbelievably important” for the youth to be heard, and not have the older generation speak on behalf of them during the decision-making process.
“If the older generation does not care for the climate and environmental problems, we will be the ones to suffer the most. If they are unable to handle debt servicing problems effectively, it will be us who will have to inherit the debts.
“If we are unable to deliver great public transportation, again it will be young people who end up in the workforce who will suffer from the problems in public transport systems.
“In this way, it will be our lives at stake in the future, and we have a long journey to go. This is not to say we will outlive everyone else, but with this journey it is our responsibility and Malaysia’s responsibility to ensure our voice matters, because we young people will inherit this country.”
Adrianne Fernandez and Ethan Lee who are foundation in arts students at Taylor’s University contributed to this report. - FMT
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