Given the vote, but ignorant about what it means

 

Some encounters with new voters registered automatically under the Undi18 law have made many people wonder if the law was done in too much haste.

The nonchalant attitude of young people towards exercising their basic democratic privilege has been shocking at times, especially with those aged between 18 and 21.

They account for about two million votes, but their numbers will grow by half a million annually as younger Malaysians turn 18.

The unhealthy ignorance about voting and democratic practices stems from the fact that schoolchildren are not taught the basic concepts of democracy and the political system.

But they might not be the only group ignorant about the democratic processes. Even older people who did not register as voters might not know that they are now in the list automatically.

Some of them believe they missed the boat again because they did not register, a friend said. “This includes adults like my own sister, my colleagues and even my hairdresser.”

There could be two reasons here. First, we have a generation which is so used to being spoon-fed by their parents and the government that they find it hard to decide on things by themselves. Second, it could be that our schools have not prepared Form Five school leavers adequately or the education system has failed to create critical thinkers in our schools and universities.

Many of them appear to be completely ignorant of the democratic system practised in Malaysia, let alone know the role of elected representatives.

Some don’t know the difference between an MP and a state assemblyman. Many draw a blank when asked if they know that Parliament comprises upper (Dewan Negara) and lower (Dewan Rakyat) houses. The young voters are absolutely oblivious of the role of senators or how they are appointed.

There are those who don’t even know which parties form the three main coalitions. What’s most shocking is they are completely oblivious of how the coalitions can team up to form a government in the event of a hung Parliament. Wait, even the term hung Parliament is alien to these youngsters.

There are university students who have opted not to travel home to vote, even though universities have taken a five-day break for that purpose. They have chosen to stay back and work for political parties for money.

In its haste, the government has obviously failed to ensure our schools prepare the young for the important task of voting, educating them to understand the concept of our democracy, and why they need to do it.

Specific subjects should have been introduced or the existing syllabus tweaked to educate the young on their democratic rights.

It would not have hurt anyone if the planners had given schools a couple of years to add lessons on these aspects of democracy while the children are in Form Four or Form Five. Maybe they could have introduced automatic registration after two years of introducing these lessons.

Many are solely relying on the advice or “directive” from their parents on who they should vote for. Others depend on their peer group while some say they rely solely on social media messages. These are definitely not sound decisions as they defeat the very purpose of allowing them to vote at such an early age.

There is another group though, which we have been told comprises a large number, who are just not interested in casting their ballots. We saw this in the Johor state elections in March where more than 700,000 new voters were involved.

According to estimates, the turnout of the new voters was very low, some saying it was only about 20%.

I asked a 19-year-old whether he was going to vote and he said he has not registered yet. When told it’s automatic these days, he said he thought he still had to go through the process of submitting forms as in the past.

This obviously shows a marked lack of maturity among our new voters, something that could result in the young ones making decisions that could go awfully wrong for the country.

You cannot turn the clock back to stop this as it’s a law now. So, the best solution will be for the next education minister to take cognisance of this important element and urgently introduce special modules on the system of our political governance and how it impacts their lives.

They need to be taught to think critically and independently and not to be influenced by parents or friends before they cast their ballots.

In the meantime, political parties must educate the young new voters and also the older ones who were just too lazy to register in the past, and let them know their names are already on the voters list.

For now, just get them out there to vote, even if they have to wade through flood waters to voting centres. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.