Of student activism and its immaturity

For democracy to function optimally, there needs to be a form of exchange between the establishment and the public

By Aziff Azuddin

We live in an age where protests and riots are an act of norm. Last year alone, we saw events like the Arab Spring, Occupy events worldwide, and on local grounds, the iconic Bersih 2.0 rally.

Amidst the New Year celebrations, we were caught unawares when UPSI students stormed the gates of their university demanding for academic freedom. A riot ensured and students were dispersed violently by the police, some ended up injured. Mostly bruised however, were egos.

A few weeks before, UPSI student activist Adam Adli went up to the Umno headquarters, lowered a flag bearing PM Najib’s face and replaced it with a flag championing academic freedom.

To many, he is a catalyst of change for the stagnant state of student activism in Malaysia. To others, he is a brilliant but misguided youth who clearly has his priorities misplaced.

The biggest question in this whole picture however, is, why the radical actions? What has brought students to the point of lowering flags, rioting on campus grounds and hosting weekly Occupy events at the Merdeka Square?

To know the cause of problems, it’s only natural that we have to examine the root cause.

In the primary and secondary Malaysian education system, outlandish ideas and intellectual discourse are unheard of inour syllabus. Anything that doesn’t comply with what is outlined in the syllabus deserves a penalty, ignorance or at least should be left at home, residing in encyclopaedias and the vast realm of the Internet.

Our students graduate into the varsity level with only an inkling of what the real taste of knowledge tastes like.

Admission into university life – we would be highlighted to broader perspectives of issues nationwide and worldwide.

Our peers (and sometimes lecturers) discuss issues on a deeper level that we’ve never been previously exposed to aside from the idle chat of family members.

The media also suddenly plays an even more important role, highlighting the recent local political squabble or protest overseas. We’re exposed to powerful words like ‘rights’ without truly understanding what it really means beyond the simple understanding that it belongs to us.

As hot-blooded passionate youths whose constant drive is to change the world, we get excited with the prospect of bringing about change. Yes, even if it means storming the gates of the university and disrespecting the nation’s leader in public.

The act of radicalism is like a viral disease caught from online exposure to protests abroad that we highlight to ourselves as ‘change’. This is where the problem begins.

Blame the system

The education system for the past many years has never been really been kind to the intellect of youths.

My previous boss once told me to, “tailor your clothes to the measurements of your body”. In this simple but meaningful metaphor, what we’ve been overlooking for the past many years is that with growing technology, the broadening of cultures and the breaking down of walls – we simply haven’t been paying attention to youths who are clearly getting smarter and more aware of what’s going on around them, in and out of the country.

Ideas, philosophies and principles mean nothing if it is not understood to its fullest value.

On Twitter timelines, I have seen countless of my peers condemning the establishment, claiming on how students deserve academic freedom. But when asked what academic freedom they are fighting for, short-lived sentences barely mumbling ‘rights’ and ‘politics’ is uttered.

For democracy to function optimally, there needs to be a form of exchange between the establishment and the public. In this sense, the public are youths.

It’s the given duty of the establishment to educate the public on what the system really is and how it works, something we have been lacking from the education system for the longest time now.

If students are given a proper understanding of the system they are in, perhaps there won’t be this violent upheavals going on with condemnations thrown right, left and centre.

No one can promise that protests will not continue, but a society that fights for a cause and understands the true essence of it is certainly better than one that has no clear idea of what banner they’re carrying means.

A student’s place in university is to study, get good grades, graduate with flying colours, make their parents proud and to go out there in the world and make a change.

The duration spent in their varsity life can be used to truly understand what politics is all about, so that when they finally go out and march on the streets, they won’t be empty cans simply making a lot of noise. They would be citizens who want to see true change coming about to this country and are prepared to stand by an ideal they truly understand.

All this is only possible through an education system that doesn’t keep their mind trapped within the four corners of a school textbook. As a Malay proverb goes, “Meluntur buluh biar dari rebungnya”.

Aziff Azuddin, 21, is a UiTM student who is currently pursuing his Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism.