The presence of Sabahans aged 30- and 40-something at Democracy Sabah political debates is an indication of a 'growing interest' in Sabah's politics, says a lecturer.
KOTA KINABALU: Last weekend’s political debate in Tampuruli has lent credence to the belief that there is a new and growing interest among young Sabahans in political discourses.
Some 200 spectators turned up for the Democracy Sabah debate on whether a state or national party is the solution to solving Sabah’s problems. The speakers were PKR’s Pajuddin Nordin and State Reform Party’s (STAR) Edwin Linggu.
But what was interesting to note was the age group of those who came. The majority of them were in their late 30s and early 40s.
The debate was the second organised by Desah which aims to allow voters to see for themselves whom among the aspiring candidates are most suitable to represent the voters in Parliament.
The first debate dubbed the “grand debate” was held in May and pitted STAR Sabah chairman Jeffrey Kitingan against DAP’s Dr Edwin Bosi.
Almost 400 people reportedly turned up to hear both leaders debate on “Which political party is the best alternative for Sabah”. The majority of the crowd was reportedly in “their 30s and 40s”.
Political awareness is fast catching up with Sabah’s young upwardly mobile (yuppies) generation and much of the credit must go to STAR, whose members are primarily under 40 years and who consider themselves as “thinking adults”.
Said STAR Youth chief Hasmin Azroy: “The young people are more aware now [of political developments]. We have been active on the ground and have had over 4,000 BTPs (Borneo Tea parties) all over the state.
“We are explaining the Borneo Agenda and the Malaysia Agreement. They are aware now that it is about their future and their children’s future.
“We’re focused on informing and educating our young people. The politics will come when they have the knowledge,” he said.
Interesting times
Incidentally, half of Sabah’s existing population is under 40 years of age.
The Sabah Monthly Census Bulletin reportedly noted that as of February last year, Sabah had 1.6 million people under 40 years. The bulletin noted that Sabah’s population is 3.214 million.
Of this, about 1.241 million youths are between 20 and 40 years.
UiTM political science lecturer Dr Arnold Puyok, who has been moderating the debates together with Desah chairman and former Suhakan commissioner Simon Sipaun, is of the view that the debates and the public response were an indication of “Sabah politics in the future”.
“Debates are not part of Sabah’s political culture. In fact, no debates have ever been conducted in the modern Sabah political history.
“Politicians go to the pulpit without having their ideas challenged by their opponents or by their voters. And voters end up being represented by leaders who are not only incompetent but are also unable to voice out their constituents’ grievances effectively.
“But there is a growing interest among Sabahans now, especially among the young.
“The presence of young, 30- and 40-somethings, shows that there is growing interest in political activism in this age group. This is really something to note.
“It’s an indication of Sabah’s politics in the future,” he said.
The enhancement of Sabahans aged 30- and 40-something getting active in the politics show that they are aware with the current situation. But they need to be careful with the information they get because it tends to mislead.
ReplyDeletegolongan muda kini dah mula berminat dalam politik berbanding sebelum ini ia hnya dipelopori gilongan tua.
DeleteLet us give our support and cooperation to the government. In the past 24 years, not only has PBS become more matured and experienced but also it managed to place itself as among the most respectable parties not only in Sabah but in the country
Deletetarik lebih ramai golongan muda.
ReplyDeleteGolongan muda semakin sedar akan hak2 mereka. Dengan terlibat dalam politik mereka dapat menyuara dan memperjuangkannya.
ReplyDeleteJadi, apa hasil debat yang telah dilaksanakan?
ReplyDeleteSTAR sedang mencari jalan yang boleh menarik pengundi untuk parti tersebut.
ReplyDeleteTidak perlulah STAR bersusah payah. Penduduk Sabah pasti akan terus menyokong kerajaan BN untuk mereka. Sebab yang utama adalah kerana kita dapa dlihat yang mana kerajaan BN masih mampu memberikan yang terbaik kepada penduduk Sabah sendiri.
ReplyDeleteyup.. lebih2 lagi ketika parti2 pembangkang Sabah masih tercari2 rentak bagaimana mahu menumbangkan kerajaan BN negeri ini..
DeletePBS reiterated its call for the Federal Government to provide for an anti hop law to ensure greater political stability in the country. All leaders shared a common stand that it is of no benefit to the country without political stability.
ReplyDeleteopposition should also contribute to bring political stability for the benefit of this country..
Deleteapa yang luar biasa sangat dengan lingkungan umur 30-40 tahun ni?? memang biasa la lingkungan umur ini yang paling ramai mengikuti perkembangan politik.. bukannya yang umur 20-an atau 60-an..
ReplyDeletepara hadirin patut melihat debat ini sebagai bukti bahawa parti2 pembangkang di negeri ini tidak mampu bersatu, tidak mempunyai kesepakatan dan sedang masih berada dalam lingkungan konflik..
ReplyDeleteNajib Tun Razak said the young generation should evaluate the achievements of the government from all aspects and not based on political perception and rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteIn this regard, the Prime Minister said the young generation must be trained so that they had higher thinking skills to enable them to differentiate between the perception deliberately created by certain groups, particularly through the internet and social media which were not based on the truth.
ReplyDelete"This is the generation that should be able to evaluate all this...not a matter of perception. Don't think that just because we are the government, we are not right.
ReplyDelete"If the ruling Barisan Nasional is not right, Malaysia would not have developed as it is now : Malaysia will achieve the developed nation status in a few more years," Najib said.
ReplyDeleteHe said this when delivering his speech at the opening of the Malaysian Young Thinkers Convention organised by Malaysian Young Thinkers Youth Organisation (PPM) in collaboration with the Youth and Sports Ministry, Malaysian Youth Development Research Institute and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) here.
ReplyDeleteNajib said not all countries had detailed planning as Malaysia had in order to achieve the developed nation status because the government was capable of leading the nation to carry out massive transformation.
ReplyDeleteThe Prime Minister said the fact was that Malaysia was not a failed state because if one looked back at the progress the country had made under the present government for the past 55 years, there had been many achievements to the extent that the country could now be interpreted as a successful nation.
ReplyDeleteHe said that most young people emphasised on what was happening today and in future, but the fact was that they had no historical perspective, thus they would be at a loss as to where they had originated from or their past history.
ReplyDeleteThus, he said, some of the young generation did not know the difficulties suffered and the sacrifices made by the past leaders so that their children would inherit a much better nation.
ReplyDelete"Thus, as a young generation, we cannot be blind to history and we cannot become a generation that does not appreciate the struggles of our forefathers," he said.
ReplyDeleteThe Prime Minister said a young generation that had historical perspective would be appreciative and would not live as part of history, instead they would have the determination to take the country to greater heights.
ReplyDelete"This is the young generation that we can depend upon. It means that as a young generation, we must have the capability to contribute, and the ability to to be critical, innovative and creative in our thinking," he said.
ReplyDeleteAs leaders, Najib said, providing educational opportunities for the young generation to possess academic qualification alone was insufficient because they must be prepared to face the challenges of the 21st century, including attacks on the leaders through the social media instead of the 'poison pen' letters as was the case in the past.
ReplyDelete"They must be given the skill to think in depth so that they will not accept in toto what is being published in the social media.
ReplyDelete"We don't want leaders who are good actors. We don't want leaders who are good in oratory skills but are not truthful," he said.
ReplyDelete"We don't want leaders attacking other leaders, but they themselves are not prepared to swear giving the excuse that it is a political conspiracy, everything is political conspiracy and they are not prepared to defend themselves based on facts," Najib said.
ReplyDeleteHe said the Barisan Nasional (BN) emphasised on the need to make real transformation instead of merely political rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteReal change could also not be achieved through improper street demonstrations with some of the demonstrators jumping 'like monkeys' and kicking policemen, he said.
ReplyDeleteStreet demonstrations would not strengthen democracy, instead Najib described them as 'democrazy' for creating chaos which did not benefit Malaysia.
ReplyDelete"Chaos in the country would benefit no one, but if one does not agree with anything, then voice it in a proper manner," he said.
ReplyDeleteNajib said Malaysians, including the young generation, must do what was best for the country and at the same time, the government provided aid such as the 1Malaysia People's Aid and several other programmes for the young which would be announced later.
ReplyDelete"There is a suggestion that soon I will launch the 1Malaysia book shop that will sell books cheaper than the other shops for the young generation so that they can develop a reading habit. Then, we want to set up 1Malaysia textile shop, much cheaper," he said.
ReplyDeleteNext week, the government would introduce a programme for the young based on the spirit of volunteerism called IMOU at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre for the young so that they could contribute in efforts to build and transform the country.
ReplyDeleteNajib said the young generation who were facing problems such as the 'Mat Rempit' would not be neglected when the government also implemented programmes to rehabilitate this group with the cooperation of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia under the patronage of his wife, Rosmah Mansor.
ReplyDeleteHe called on the young generation to acquire skills and to take note that some of them were earning an income of RM3,000 by selling cup cakes.
ReplyDelete"Cup cakes are not that difficult to make, I too can make them but I don't have time as I have become the Prime Minister," he said.
ReplyDeleteAt the function, Najib said he would assist the PPM to go down to the states as a partner of the government to implement the national transformation programme, especially for the young generation.
ReplyDeleteThe one-day convention was attended by 5,000 youths aged between 18 and 40 from 22 career backgrounds including doctors, lawyers, policemen and even young taxi drivers to come out with proposals from their respective profession for consideration by the government.
ReplyDelete