KUCHING: Greater political awareness can encourage youth to come out and vote in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15).
Parti Ikatan Demokratik Malaysia (MUDA) Sarawak information chief officer Norashikin Baidawi said it took many years for the older generations to gain political aware and perhaps this was one reason why the older generations outnumber the younger ones during polling day.
“The truth is most of our youth do not really have an idea about how the government works, what the structure is or why voting is going to help them.
“The youth are the future leaders, and they are the most powerful sword in Malaysia today,” she told New Sarawak Tribune today.
She recalled a talk which she recently attended where one of the speakers, a former chief executive officer of Tabung Haji Datuk Nik Hasyudeen stressed a key point – that whether one votes or doesn’t vote is a decision.
Said Norashikin: “Nik Hasyudeen said that ‘to not vote is also a decision and like any other decision one makes, it has consequences too’. I think this is very crucial for everyone to know.”
She said there was a need to have more diverse candidates to encourage the people to come out and vote.
If young people could see politicians more like themselves, she said it could make a big difference.
“However, this seems to be far from the reality of the world. So, how can this lead to exciting perspectives on voting?
“If politicians were more diverse, not only would more issues be better dealt with, but the young people also would be more involved in politics and be more interested in what’s going on,” she said.
