GREATER participation of youth in Sarawak politics through set-ups in political parties will allow for issues affecting young people to be promptly addressed.
Analysts polled by New Sarawak Tribune opined that among the pressing issues are the economic situation and employment opportunities for the youths.
They said youth participation should not only be seen as a source of votes but also an opportunity to introduce changes that will benefit the group.
University of Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (UMCEDEL) socio-political analyst Associate Professor Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said issues such as unemployment and the lack of job opportunities should be resolved with the setting up of new wings in political parties.
“It should obtain the necessary feedback on the needs and wants of the youths based on their socioeconomic background.
“The parties also need to encourage the setting up of non-government organisation (NGO) movements to reach out to the grassroots to meet the aspirations of the nation and state,” he told New Sarawak Tribune.
Awang Azman said other issues that need to be resolved are for youths to obtain good pay in tandem with the rising cost of goods.
“Can you imagine, the salary of engineer, journalists, and the private sector has not changed for the last fifteen years despite the increased living costs.
“Political parties must also stress local development to prevent youths from migrating to other places such as Peninsular Malaysia or other countries for better opportunities and salaries,” he said.
On the best way to instil a sense of youth in Sarawak politics, the analyst said it can be done through fielding young faces in elections.
“The newer candidates can be from young technocrats, activists, artists and NGO leaders who have huge a impact among the young electorate and the community in general,” he said.
His sentiments were echoed by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) political analyst Dick Lembang Dugun who said it is about time that youths are tasked with taking up important posts in political parties.
“The veteran leaders must have the will to give opportunities to the youths – engagement is important to attract and associate them with politics,” he said.
Lembang also said political parties and leaders must show good example to the youths in managing both the party and the state.
“They must be good leaders and lead with integrity, accountability and practise good governance,” he said.
Addressing political fatigue
With uncertainties clouding the nation’s political situation, many including youths are becoming jaded with politics and politicians.
Lembang said the fatigue in politics must be addressed by political parties and the government by reaching out and empowering them.
“Lack of exposure and interest towards politics are some issues affecting the youths around the country especially in rural areas. There is also a lack of opportunities given to them, politically or economically.
“It is never too late for political parties to empower the youths if they are sincere and have the political will to do so – increase youth candidacy during elections and give the platform for youths in politics.”
At the same time, Lembang also stressed the importance of political literacy among the youths with the implementation of Undi18.
“The government must introduce topics or subjects on democracy, politics and leadership early in our education system, starting from Form 3.
“Good governance values must be instilled – with early exposure, we can create good leaders in the future. Civic education is important for youths to be politically literate,” he said.
Meanwhile. Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) senior lecturer Dr Lee Kuok Tiung said while political maturity and literacy is important, its assessment is subjective as there are adults who are still immature politically.
He said this can be seen among politicians who are perspective bias, accusing those not voting for them as being immature.
“If these voters end up voting for them, they will claim that the voters have more awareness on topics of national interest,” he said.
Lee said political maturity among youths in Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia are not comparable due to the different political set ups that are available in the three regions as well as differing political landscape.
On youth participation, the academician said there are many platforms for youths to participate in at all levels, be it in schools or universities.
“There are also platforms for those who have started working – all of these are inclusive and were set up by NGOs and government agencies.
“The question will be how many of the youths want to participate in this? We cannot assess participation by looking only at political parties,” he said.
Call for solutions
Lee said while there are many issues affecting youths, what’s more important is the awareness of youths to plans and programmes by the government to remedy these issues.
“The cost of living in the urban areas is much higher than semi-urban or in rural and interior areas – this is affected by living styles.
“This poses a challenge to the government and they did have a lot of plans to ease the youth’s burden.
“The big question is the awareness of the youths themselves and secondly the implementation of these policies,” he said.
He said sometimes, the implementation did not reach the target group or with limited resources, only a section of the youths was able to reap the benefit of these policies.
Meanwhile, economic analyst Datuk Dr Madeline Berma said the best approach to empower the youths economically is for the government to ensure sustainable economic growth.
She said this includes the implementation of mega projects as well as encouraging foreign and domestic investment in the state.
“This will then create more employment opportunities and greater income for the people especially the youths.”
At the same time, she also viewed that it is crucial for the government to engage youths in key policy-making decisions.
“We need the participation of youths in public policy committees and investing in youth development through entrepreneurship,” she said.
Madeline also echoed Lembang’s sentiment on the subject of leadership to be included in the national education syllabus from school to tertiary education levels.
At the same time, she also proposed that a youth leadership academy be set up to train future leaders.
The Academy of Science Malaysia fellow said other issues that must be addressed besides economy are substance abuse among youths, unemployment and underemployment and lost learning generation due to COVID-19.
“Underemployment means youths have to settle for a job that is below their level of qualifications.
“To address this, we must focus on rapid economic growth, include youths in policy dialogues and set up a youth leadership curriculum in our education syllabus,” she said.
Educate and enlighten
Madeline and Lembang’s call for early education for leadership, politics and democracy was not lost on UNIMAS assistant vice-chancellor (Leadership and Development) Prof Datuk Mohd Fadzil Abdul Rahman.
The veteran academician said to inculcate the spirit of sustainability and professionalism among youths, continuous efforts are needed to provide them with ample knowledge and understanding of politics.
“This is particularly on its impact on the development and the viability of people’s lives. We must also highlight the issues that are being tackled by the state to the youths so they will understand it.
“Let them be part of problem solvers with responsibilities rather than being an armchair critic,” he said.
Mohd Fadzil said at the same time, political parties and NGOs when organising activities for the youths must stress the values of accountability and responsibility.
“These activities need not be for attracting votes, but to educate them on implications of politics without a sense of knowledge and direction.
“Political parties too need to be prepared to give space to youths to be involved in brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas.
“While the conclusion may be a tad radical and contemporary, at the very least, it will instil interest among them to participate and get their opinions heard,” he said.
Mohd Fadzil opined that the political situation surrounding youths is not as “critical or chronic” as compared to Peninsular Malaysia.
“Here, there is no fanaticism that will lead to unhealthy situations such as being too vocal, emotional and blindly following sentiments which involve public defamation, personal attacks and character assassination.
“If we are able to bring our youths into politics with the current political climate in Sarawak, I believe our youths can be an example for other youths in Malaysia.
“This is by them being professional, rational, tolerative and politically mature as well as not easily driven by emotions and sentiments,” he said.
To demands by youths for them to be involved in politics, the assistant vice-chancellor said it is not as simple as providing them with a quota in state and parliamentary seats or positions of influence.
“We should not inculcate the culture of baiting youth with positions as being the main motivators to be involved in politics.
“Conversely, we must emphasise aspects such as preparedness, ability and capability to use politics for the benefit of the people.
“Sincerity to serve is key and we must hold on to this before laying claim to positions in the political world to be given to youths,” he said.
