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 KUALA LUMPUR: In the aftermath of the March 8th election
result, it is noticed that there are more young YBs under the age of 35. It is
interesting to see how these young and fresh YBs will meet the expectations of
the rakyat to handle the issues of youth in Malaysia.
Following from that, the National Youth Consultation
Conference (NYCC), which consists of Youth for Change (Y4C), Kuala Lumpur &
Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Youth Section (KLSCAH-Youth), Pusat Janadaya
(Empower), National Young Lawyers Committee of the Bar Council (NYLC) and
Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM), organised a forum entitled “Cabaran
Wakil Rakyat Dalam membawa Isu-isu Belia” on 29 April 2008 at the KL &
Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, where they invited a few of these young YBs and
put them to task on how to tackle the issues of youth.
The panellists consisted of YB Janice Lee (ADUN DAP Teratai),
YB Nasir Zakaria (MP PAS Padang Terap) and YB Nurul Izzah (MP PKR Lembah Pantai).
YB Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah (MP BN Termeloh) was invited to the forum, but he
had to make a last minute cancellation. The forum was conducted entirely in
Bahasa Malaysia.
YB Janice Lee was invited to speak first. According to her
there are no challenges as yet because all the new young YBs have only taken
office recently. She felt that after the recent election where the government
was denied the 2/3 majority, there are no challenges for the young YBs now to
put forward any proposals. She spoke of how the new generation does not bear the
burden of history, in particular with relation to the May 13 issue. She believes
that with the current mood, there are no obstacles faced by the young YBs to
bring forward any issues of youth. YB Janice Lee is very optimistic that any
issues of youth can be discussed openly.
Next to speak was YB Nasir Zakaria. He gave a background
history of how he got involved in politics. He explained that he was involved in
the youth movement during the era when society was prejudiced to race division
in Malaysia. He believed that the issue back then was justice. He argued that
social challenges must be set aside especially in relation to the new generation
who will become the leaders of tomorrow. He further said that the youth
generation act as a vacuum between the old generation and it creates a new
political landscape. Due to this, he saw the biggest challenge that the young
YBs face today is the political challenge. He made comparison with the European
Union which has a Youth Parliament where young politicians are invited to get
involved in the progress of the nation. He argued that the generation today does
not recognise the struggle for independence as they were not born then, rather,
these youths associate themselves more with the reformasi movement for
justice. He believes that there are challenges in every aspect and mentioned the
issues with education and social culture.
YB Nurul Izzah was the last speaker of the night. She
believes that the main challenge facing the young YBs are the apathy of the
youth. She cited some statistics from the recent election, where almost four
million people who are entitled to vote did not register themselves and this
four million people consist mostly of young people. She defined a youth as
someone who is 18-35 years old. This age bracket makes up a big chunk of the
country’s population. She argued a person is most productive at this age. The
energy they have can be use to change the political scenario. Any policy passed
by the government must take into account this new generation. She agreed with
the other two speakers that the young YBs of today are not the generation that
grow up with the May 13 issue. She also feels that the education system is very
exam-oriented that it became difficult to bring any sensitive issue forward.
As a closing, the MC posed a question to each of the
speakers.
To YB Janice Lee, he asked for her view on politicians who
stayed too long in politics, referring to them as 'dinosaurs'. YB Janice Lee
feels that their presence is needed to have a check and balance in the politics.
Because they have been involved in politics for so long, they are more
experience and the rakyat trust them more than the new YBs.
To YB Nasir Zakaria, he asked; after the victory in the
recent election, how far will he go to fulfill his duty? YB Nasir Zakaria
stressed he will promote all the challenges that he mentioned earlier.
To YB Nurul Izzah, he asked her whether racial politics still
exist. She replied in the affirmative and argued that it is not an easy task to
change the reality of the political scene in Malaysia overnight. It has been 50
years since independent and yet the issue of race is still being brandished by
some of the politicians.
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