KUCHING: Lowering the minimum voting age from 21 to 18 may not result in any drastic changes in Sarawak’s current government coalition, opined Dr Ang Chung Huap, a senior lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Mara (Sarawak campus).
In an exclusive interview with New Sarawak Tribune, he reasoned that the redelineation still provided huge advantages to the current government.
“Besides this, the ‘Sarawak for Sarawakians’ (S4S) sentiment is still a powerful slogan in rural areas,” Dr Ang said, sharing his view that the S4S mentality was an opportunity for the present government coalition to build upon the notion that it was the only party capable of protecting the rights of Sarawak.
“It makes the public believe that they are the only ones who will prevent Sarawak from being ‘bullied’ by Peninsular Malaysia,” he stated, likening this to Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ campaign slogan which propelled him to win the presidential election in 2017.
“Then, of course, there will be Sarawakians who would vote for the party that shows it is able to protect the rights of Sarawak from Peninsular Malaysia,” commented Dr Ang.
According to him, he personally does not fully agree with the idea of S4S as although Sarawakians have the right to protect their own interests as a state, Sarawak is still a part of Malaysia.
Furthermore, the senior lecturer shared a third reason why he believed the change of minimum voting age would not bring about significant change in Sarawak.
“There are so many Sarawakian youngsters studying or working outside Sarawak who may be unable to return during election day.
“In addition, Sarawak lacks effective transportation in the rural areas and this would be a hindrance to potential voters during the election period,” Dr Ang explained.
Research and development officer Alan Chua Yee Quan also would not expect any radical changes in the next Sarawak state election if the change of minimum voting age was implemented.
“Regardless of the age of voters, as long as the current state or federal government stops carrying out its duties responsibly, the people will respond accordingly and they will be overthrown during the election,” Chua stated.
