Politics, students and Kelab Umno — Ooi Kok Hin

How does it feel like being Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah during the recent Umno general assembly (PAU)? The deputy minister of higher education is well known for his liberal and progressive outlook, and his ideals which emphasise youth participation. When his party colleagues, including the deputy prime minister and former minister of women, family and community development, threw various warnings and accusations to the delegates and the people, surely he was upset with his party for failing again to heed his advice to embrace “New Politics”.

However, he can be proud when his party gave an opportunity to a young man, Yasir Zulkafli Ariff, to speak before the delegates. The 23-year-old is chairman of Kelab Umno Luar Negara (KULN) in Tokyo. He spoke and sang with full confidence and enthusiasm. The next day, The Star, New Straits Times and other mainstream media showered praises on this young man.

My question is: why were Yasir and his friends in KULN the only ones allowed to do that?

While I am glad he showed that young people are mature and capable enough to address the ruling party’s general assembly, why was the opportunity enjoyed by Yasir not given to his peers? The Universities and University Colleges Act prevents other students in local universities to do what Yasir did. In addition, overseas students, especially those sponsored by the government or certain organisations, are warned to not engage in any political activity.

Students’ opinion

What exactly do the government and the adults want from us? They ask us to be more concerned with the current issues, but prohibit us from expressing our views on political issue, which doubtlessly is one of the most important issues in any country.

Political leaders and their parties’ Youth wings invite us to participate in the voting campaign and community activities. They say to us “You are the generation that will carry our hope and lead the country. I believe in your potential and capability!” but they also told us, “You should not be involved in anything related to politics.” They give confused and contradictory messages. So what do we think? What do young people within and outside the country think about political participation, academic freedom and our learning culture?

Razan Rose, UKM: The problem in Malaysia is that all things will be politicised and teachers and lecturers cannot be questioned. Academic freedom for me is room for open dialogues. You are free to give your opinion and you are free to criticise anything, anyone (including the lecturers and the administration). Currently, dialogue is still suppressed and constrained. This results in the lack of critical thinking that should be present in a university. Therefore, I encourage the students to be more involved in community activities, NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and politics.

Mohammed Yassin, Manipal University, India: Students should be indirectly involved in politics to a certain extent. For example, they should know the history of political parties and past elections. They must be able to think critically about the pros and cons of policies that are proposed by opposing parties. However, students (especially government-sponsored students) should not join a political party while still enrolled in university so that they can concentrate on their studies. Students should at least participate in NGOs which are non-partisan, such as Viva Palestina or Perdana Peace Foundation to hone their soft skills.

Mohamad Amirul, UiTM Shah Alam: Students should be exposed to politics, but if students want to be involved, the university must control the situation. For example, there should be rules that ban students from campaigning inside campus. For me, there are many students who do not take care about politics. This is not good because it’s important for us to know the political process and choose our leaders. But students should not be overindulged until their studies are neglected.

Chua Syn Dee, Ohio State University: As students, our responsibility is to learn. In order to learn, we must have an open mind and the freedom to gain knowledge in all possible means. In the context of politics, the same freedom to learn should not be hindered despite what many would call it a “sensitive” topic. This is important for any nation to produce citizens who have an opinion on what is best for their country; it encourages people to communicate issues and can only help any nation to progress.

Syaffuan Yusof, UiTM Merbok, Kedah: Students should be involved in order to know the current issues. It is important that students are able to evaluate the capability of political parties because the government is formed by the party who wins the majority. However, this involvement should have its limits. I suggest that only students who are mature, professional and study politics should be encouraged to be involved in politics because they have the knowledge.

Ariff Kamal Khairi, Krida Wacana Christian University, Jakarta, Indonesia: I do not agree with the Solidariti Mahasiswa, Safwan Anang, Adam Adli and the like because they did not use the proper channels. They challenged the law and it is difficult to accept their brazen and uncivilised acts. Their street demonstrations include placing tombstone, garlands at the pictures of our leaders, climbing the gates and changing the flag. On the other hand, KULN carried out welfare activities such as “Sahur on the road” with the needy, Malam Kami Anak Malaysia as a medium for people of Malaysia (not only Malays) to foster better relationships and create more student-oriented activities. They never make political speeches or demonstrations to condemn the opposition.

Nur Adilla Abd Rahim, University of Washington, the US: Students should be exposed to politics and be directly involved. Discussions should be scholarly and intellectual. Students should be given the freedom to criticise and perform a check-and-balance to the formulation of policies, programmes, etc, on condition that such criticism should have a solid foundation of rationale, not just on the basis of emotion. There is an ironic contradiction where students are able to vote, but could not be involved with the political party he or she supports.

Hazman Baharom, University of Manchester, England: In the UK, there was once an association which was related to PAS, Hizbi. Then, on the orders of Datuk Noh Omar, Hizbi was banned just because of its connection with PAS. Now, Hizbi no longer exists. My friends had received threats from their sponsors due to alleged links with Bersih. Surely it’s not that PKR, PAS or the DAP do not provide a platform for students, but just look at the threats students received from the government as a result of their involvement.

Emulate KULN and college students in the United States

KULN now has 72 clubs in 18 countries worldwide, with more than 14,000 members. Some say KULN is non-partisan but I believe the YouTube videos clearly show their bias. A representative described Umno as a father who should not be changed even if he has some weakness. However, I feel the initiative to create KULN is not wrong. In fact, I think it’s the right step to attract youth participation. Initiatives to create platforms like KULN should be encouraged.

This entails that students should be given the opportunity to set up Kelab Barisan Nasional, Kelab Pakatan Rakyat Luar Negara or Kelab Penyokong XYZ in their universities. In the US, almost every university or college has College Republicans and College Democrats. Both clubs play an important role in the democratic process in the US. In my university, College Democrats and College Republicans organised many campaigns to win votes for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in the last election. Among them, building tents in open space to persuade people to vote, provide transportation for voting and disseminate information to the university community. In fact, they were able to invite Obama to speak on campus while Paul Ryan, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, came to watch a football game together with our university community. There was no violent incident. Here, students are treated like adults and are groomed to become leaders.

Some people’s worries about safety can be addressed through rules and regulations to keep control of the situation. If the authorities are sincere in trusting students and enriching democracy in Malaysia, we can do this. Even if they disagree on political participation, at least they need to make efforts to increase political awareness. The government can either do this or appoint third parties like NGOs to run political awareness campaigns and political education. Again, I take an example from the US where schools kids are taught their rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

This issue is not about BN or PR. It will have wide-ranging consequences that reach beyond our generation. This issue challenges the status quo and the culture in our universities. Students will be more critical and mature given the awareness and freedom to associate with politically active citizens. Some say that students should wait until their studies are over before joining politics. What they fail to understand is that this is the age to get involved. Bill Clinton, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and all were actively taking part in politics throughout their 20s. At this age, the spirit and enthusiasm are high. We want to do something. We want to contribute. We want to be involved.

Rather than diminishing our spirit, why don’t invite us to make this nation a better place? Not tomorrow, but now.