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Out to woo young voters
23-Nov-2008, The Star
By JOSEPH LOH and RASHVINJEET S. BEDI

By the next general election, about 20% of the voters could comprise those in their early 20s. Both the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat are already trying to engage them but will the medium of communication or political aspirations hold greater sway?

IF every one of the two million who turn 21 in the next few years registers to vote by the next general election, they will be a force to reckon with.

In fact, they will form 20% to 25% of the number of voters, going by the 8.2mil who voted in the March 8 elections this year.

Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the two million estimate is based on the Malaysian birth rate of about 450,000 to 500,000 annually.

Although an additional two million voters from a population of 27.73mil may not seem all that significant, it forms enough of a bulk among those who vote to sway the results in favour of either political coalition.

Presuming there are five years to go before the next elections, the figure would comprise those from the ages of 21 to 25 – all young voters who will be making their political voice heard through the ballot box for the first time.

Says Prof Datuk Syed Arabi Idid, political communications lecturer: “In 2004, the Barisan Nasional (BN) under Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi got through to voters of all ages. But in 2008, more young voters favoured the opposition.

“Two million votes may not all go to the opposition, but are an asset to both groups. It is not true that only one party will gain their share from these young voters; any party that can present their issues will gain their support. This group of voters can be beneficial to either BN or Pakatan Rakyat; it is an open field for all,” he says.

Political parties are well aware of the importance of this young vote. Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein believes that young voters are making their presence felt and this is a phenomenon that requires attention and understanding. The parties’ leaders need to change, he says, otherwise “they will be changed by the electoral process.”

YOUNG VOICE: A nation-wide survey on 1,508 Malaysians aged between 20 and 35 years old last year showed that slightly more than half claimed to be registered voters, and about 60% of the registered voters cast their votes in 2004.

The impact of youth

A nation-wide telephone survey conducted by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research on 1,508 randomly selected Malaysians between 20 and 35 years old in August last year showed that slightly more than half claimed to be registered voters, and about 60% of the registered voters cast their votes in 2004.

The survey also found that youngsters see opposition political parties as playing a more prominent role, with the vast majority of respondents seeing their role as a check and balance to the ruling government.

Based on the March 8 elections, the centre’s executive director Ibrahim Suffian says: “Most people don’t really know how youths voted, but from anecdotal evidence, the indication is those below 30 were more prone to vote for the opposition, especially in the urban areas.”

According to Ibrahim, one reason why youngsters tend to favour the opposition is they do not feel indebted to the Government that achieved independence 51 years ago.

“It will be harder to campaign on the basis of track records and the social contract, for example. Those things are remote to younger people. When you talk to people, you can sense that they are more pragmatic and they will choose a government that works,” he adds. Stephen Doss, the deputy secretary for Selangor Gerakan Youth, concurs, saying that youngsters are less likely to vote the parties their parents voted for as they have less baggage to deal with and may not know the significance of independence.

“The older generation might feel duty bound to vote for the ruling party,” says Doss who is also the National Youth Association of Malaysia president.

According to Ibrahim, the youth have an appreciation and a more liberal view of democracy, with a lower preference for race-based politics. This is perhaps one reason why a multi-racial party such as PKR appeals to youngsters.

“They have a largely fresh way of doing politics,” says Ibrahim, adding that political parties such as PAS and Umno are also seen trying to re-brand themselves.

“It remains to be seen if they can attract these youngsters,” he says.

Doss suggests that there should be a platform for people to join the BN without joining a race-based component party.

“The Prime Minister was open about it and considered the option, although individuals in race-based parties objected to this.”

Ibrahim says DAP managed to capture young votes because it gave new blood such as Hannah Yeoh the chance of running in the elections.

“Many of their candidates won and one can judge their performance by the good coverage they are getting,” says Ibrahim.

See Tho Chee Seong, the convenor of Youth for Change (Y4C), does not think that youngsters intentionally oppose the ideas raised by the Government.

“They feel that decisions or policies have been made without getting feedback from ground level. Again, this is due to the lack of proper channels such as blogs, forums, dialogues or public discourse for the youngsters to voice their views regarding certain issues.

“When they (youngsters) have something in mind that is similar with what the opposition have championed, they will be labelled as pro-opposition. This stereotype doesn’t bring any outcome if the Government wishes to engage the youngsters,” says See.

According to him, the economy, political stability, freedom of education, job opportunities and social problems among peers are the main issues on the minds of youths. He adds that the economy will be the key issue in the next three years since the economic downturn will affect their job opportunities.

In order to win the heart of young voters, See believes that political parties need to engage the youth more.

“Political apathy among young people is no longer valid in Malaysia. They are concerned about what happens in their surroundings. The political leaders should provide effective communication channels to listen to and understand what these young people want for society.”

See adds that this group of people experienced the political tsunami and realised they have power to instigate change.

“They realise that Malaysia can be another country where the Government can be changed with their votes. But it is limited to those who are living in urban and sub-urban areas, and who have the political awareness to exercise their right to vote.” he says.

Mukhriz: ‘No matter the medium, it is the message that matters and it has to be consistent throughout, whether it is electronic or conventional media’

Parties to heed the youth

Says Wanita MCA Chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun: “The youth are not only important to political parties, but important to the nation as a whole. To nurture them or to provide a platform to lead is one of our main objectives now.”

She believes that young voters are able to think independently, and it does not mean that their vote is ensured just because they are members of a particular political party.

“Their votes are determined if they believe the party provides them a hope or future and agree with their policies,” Chew says.

The key to doing that is to provide them with all the information they need so that they can understand the party better. Giving the example of the recent elections, she opines that the main reason some did not vote for their own party was the lack of communication, and this was coupled with the new methods of communication such as SMS and the Internet.

“We need to know their lifestyle and have to reach out to the young voters – through the Internet, newspapers or otherwise, and keep in pace with the development of the country and society.”

While recruiting potential young voters or members is a good first step, it is much more difficult than it sounds. She says youths tend to mingle within their age group and strive to be different. Therefore they may not react positively to programmes that are organised by political parties.

Wanita MCA recently set up a sub-committee with MCA Youth to jointly organise and implement projects to attract younger members to join MCA.

“We will provide a friendly environment, and then we will give them the platform to do what is right. From there, we let them lead themselves for they are the ones who know what they want,” adds Chew.

Two million potential voters is a considerable number, but Khairul Anuar Ahmad Zainudin, vice-chief of Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) believes that their impact may not necessarily be as significant as the number suggests.

“Not many young people are interested in registering themselves to be voters. Most of them are apolitical – they don’t really care who the Cabinet ministers or what the policies of the government are,” he says, qualifying that this attitude is not unique to Malaysia but shared by countries around the world.

“It is the political awareness of the youth that we are concerned about and this can be increased.”

Khairul believes that the Malaysian youth have a kind of loathing for politicians.

“They feel that politicians are clichéd, old-fashioned and make empty promises. So we are afraid that PKR will be viewed that way too.”

But one thing changed much of this mindset, he says, and that was the chain of events in 1998 surrounding the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim saga that proved an eye-opener.

“There were a lot of young people that time – not so much for the political issue but because of the rebellious nature of youth and the fact that they were opposing the police.

“But they later realised its political nature, and this managed to break through to many young people,” he says.

He cites the outcome of the last general election, where people tended to vote for the opposition just because they did not want to vote the ruling party.

“We now have to translate this so-called protest vote into genuine votes, and this is a real challenge for us. We must make them politically aware,” says Khairul.

He adds that youths have to be given more democratic space.

“For example, we now have Universiti Industri Selangor (Unisel), and we want to make it a role model in the PKR perspective.

“We can allow open forums or have a speakers corner to give youths more voice. In public forums they can invite Anwar or Tun Dr Mahathir or whoever they like – we can give them autonomous power.

“Even if they want to support Umno, they can. Let the students decide and develop their critical thinking. If successful, we will have created a new generation of students,” says Khairul.

Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, one of the nominees running for the Umno Youth chief post, is another who is well aware of the importance of young voters.

“They are so important that they will determine whether BN stays in power or not in the next general election. The balance between victory and defeat lies in their hands,” he shares.

He says the results of the last general election and the recent by-election in Permatang Pauh is proof of this.

“The third and fourth channel (30 to 40 age group), which represent the young voters, was where we lost much ground. It is apparent to me that most young people are very politically aware and can’t wait to register and participate in the democratic process.”

He adds that these young voters are not so inclined towards BN, and this needs to be addressed immediately.

“It seems that the majority have certain grievances or grouses with regards to BN and to Umno, and if this is not remedied within the next few years, I think we should expect election results similar or worse compared to the last one,” says Mukhriz.

Winning the confidence of the young voters will not be an easy task, and this will require a renewed effort.

“We need to reconnect with them, understand the issues they consider important and try to address them one by one.

“There are many issues obviously, and young people are not oblivious to the problems we face in running the country. They want their voices to be heard in issues such as educational and economic opportunities.

“I am very sure they not only want to criticise, but have ideas that will definitely be very helpful in finding resolutions to many if not most problems facing the country.”

But rather than lump young voters under one category, Mukhriz believes it is important to distinguish them geographically as well as socially.

“We should not lump them all as below 35. The issues for those who have reached a stage where they are a little bit more stable – have a career and a young family – will be very different from those who just graduated,” he says, adding that their residence in either rural, urban or sub-urban areas also makes a difference.

He adds that the use of new media like the Internet is important. However, he says, “No matter the medium, it is the message that matters and it has to be consistent throughout, whether it is electronic or conventional media. What is important is to reach out to them and we can take it from there.

“The Internet and the like are just means of touching base with them, and we have to follow up with substantial content,” Mukhriz concludes.

Raring to cast their vote

Amandeep Kaur, 20, student

“I am definitely going to register as a voter. It is essential that I have the right to choose the representative for my constituency whom I have faith in. I believe everyone has the right to choose the representative that they trust and that will help the country. As we all know, actions speak louder than words. Thus, if you want change, vote!”

Firdaus Mohd Johar, 22, marketing executive

My family has always voted during elections. I, however, didn’t vote in the last election because I did not register as a voter. I do keep a close watch on what is happening through the newspapers. I openly say that I will vote for the Government because they have provided us stability and a chance to earn a living all this while. I will tell others to do the same.”

Tan Bee Li, 21, Student

“Personally, I don’t follow the political scene closely because I don’t think I can make much of a difference. Anything I know is based on what my father and others talk about. But when I have the chance to vote at the next election, I will be following things more closely. The political parties should emphasise what they are doing for the people now and not what has happened in the past. Take our independence for example — while significant, political parties can’t use it any more as a basis to campaign.”

Jonathan Hoe, 18, student

“I will definitely vote because the citizens should decide the Government. I have to admit that at my age, most youths lack the knowledge about what is really going on in the Government because they don’t think they will be directly affected. Everything that they know is based on what they hear from their parents and older people.”

Syarmim Amiera, 20, student

“I don’t really understand the meaning of a vote and who to vote for because no one has really explained this to me. Having said that, ever since the last election I am more aware of what is going on in the country and realise that it is important that we do vote for a Government that can provide us with peace.”

Ranesh Rekha, 23, Student

“I follow what is going on in the country through online news portals. I followed the last election closely and it is obvious that Malaysia is going through a reformation at the moment. I would like to be a part of that and the best way is through my vote in the next election.”