#UndiRosak in the age of hyper partisanship (Tanjak.my 02 May 2018)

The majority of Malaysian voters are youth below 40 whom are perhaps even eager to do our duty as citizens. Yet many remain despondent and uncertain. The reasons for this are aplenty but in gist, it’s the dejection we feel with regard to any and all political entities in the country.

If one is to opt for the ruling party, there are always the dark clouds of corruption that will cling onto the ballot paper. But to cast a vote for the opposition coalition is even more terrifying, what with their delusional tactics and emotional outbursts.

That’s why many millennials are expressing their support for the #UndiRosak movement.

In truth, the youth are not concerned with a moral dilemma picking between a man connected to 1MDB and an older man connected to the BMF, forex and other financial scandals.

What really bothers many from my age group is that in our eyes, we don’t see alternatives in the leadership vacuum. In fact, the lack of good and capable leaders has gotten to be so glaring that – hilariously – Diva AA (moniker for Azwan Ali) contesting in Bukit Antarabangsa seems refreshing despite his parody or what we might call his mockery of democracy.

Choosing between Pepsi and Coke … or root beer maybe

To some of those who support #UndiRosak movement, it appears voters are given the choice between Arsenic or Cyanide. Either or, the prescription is five potentially destructive years.

Our real concerns? We fear we’re not looking at strong economic opportunities but instead a diminished purchasing power. This spells that we might not be able to afford our usual Starbucks cuppa and quarterly vacation overseas. For others, it  could mean stretching our RM3,000 monthly salary to cover food, rent, car hire purchase, and hope for enough left over to pay our utility bills.

According to the Insolvency Department, people aged 25-44 make up 60 percent of the 94,408 bankruptcy cases reported from 2013 to August 2017. If this is not unsettling enough, youths are also more prone to psychological issues. According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey, there has been an increase in mental health problems among young Malaysian adults the past three years.

Thus it is understandable that this demography is getting more and more stressed or burnt out finding it difficult to have savings or make time for advanced career learning.

And so begins the cycle where youths remain (relatively) young, (fiscally) broke and (emotionally) dumb in modern Malaysia.

The protest vote – watch us throw a tantrum  

In the 2016 American presidential election, voters in the hundreds of thousands cast a blank ballot in protest against both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

The same sentiment was echoed in the 2017 French election where a total nine percent of the ballots were either blank or spoiled – translating into almost four million wasted votes.

Here in Malaysia, the #UndiRosak movement gained momentum when young voters do not care if, at the end of it all, our ballots may count for nothing. As long as our united voice is heard: “Enough is enough!”

It’s possible we’re waiting for a more capable leader to rescue us from this political conundrum we are in. Such an expectation could be why the parties are now fielding fresher faces as their candidates.

They (the political parties) are trying to pacify our disgruntled generation by sending forth young aspirants who speak like us, think like us and look like us … well, somewhat like us compared to octo- and nonagenarians.

MCA, for example, is fielding 29-year old lawyer Ho Kwok Xheng against the formidable Tony Pua, and 28-year-old architect Lee Yee Yuan to contest in Sekinchan, his home town.

Umno has named its slate of youngish lawyers: Datuk Imran Tamrin, 31, for Sungai Panjang; Mohd Shahar Abdullah, 38, for Paya Besar and Adnan Seman, 42, for Bandar Tun Razak.

It’s still the economy, stupid 

To quote Bill Clinton’s famous 1992 campaign tagline “It’s the economy, stupid”, an ability to grow the economy is the ultimate game changer for us.

So when it comes to the crunch, a better-educated youthful electorate is basing its decision on what the parties can bring to the table. And the most important factor for BN/Pakatan Harapan to fulfil is ensuring a more sustainable economic outlook, especially for the young.

Youth icon Khairy Jamaluddin – exuding confidence and optimism – has offered to create job opportunities and push up wages for a generation trapped in stagnant salaries.

Young voters actually need the visual image of a strong and magnetic leader – one which KJ successfully projects. This projection is not merely to fortify his party manifesto but also to personify which individual to be held accountable should the BN (or Pakatan Harapan) plentiful promises remain unrealized five years down the road.

In other words, KJ is the face of Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) and we hold him responsible for its concrete implementation.

Recognizing this economic sentiment, BN has come up with its ‘Jaminan Orang Muda – JOM’ programme to lure the upwardly mobile crowd.

Pakatan Harapan, on the other hand, has not drafted anything similar but still maintains its old manifesto that it hopes can provide a general solution to fit all sizes.

On other key elements, no one seems to know for sure whether Pakatan Harapan plans to abolish, lower or retain the much-debated GST. And then there are past promises that have been flip-flopped, e.g. the PTPTN student loan.

The playing field needs to be leveled

If you are a young voter like myself, weighing between the three coalitions of Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan and Gagasan Sejahtera seems not much of a choice.

Which one will you take – sexist politicians playing the fool in parliament, irrelevant clowns hooked on press conferences, or whatever?

Millennials are admittedly opinionated and this means we’re better informed than our previous generations. Please trust that we’re capable of knowledgeably assessing the candidates and ideological poster boys and even those colourful distractions thankfully not nominated to contest.

It does not take a lot for us to decipher Rafizi Ramli’s Twitter zingers or to disentangle Zaid Ibrahim’s salty blog posts.

Disenchantment aside, any vote in support of the #UndiRosak movement is nonetheless a wasted vote. Instead we must vote in support of a credible leader – at least someone more credible than Rafizi and Zaid – so that more capable leaders can be birthed in turn.

We must vote for legitimate third forces that serve to equalize the playing field.

The only hope we have truly is for a hung parliament to finally educate our politicians that power is tagged to responsibility. YB wannabes need to convince us that any power given is for them to act in our collective interest.

*First appeared in Tanjak.my on May 02, 2017.