Years ago
there was a “notion” among Malaysians especially Malays that Malaysian Chinese
were not interested in politics, didn’t care who ruled the country and didn’t
give a hoot what happened, as long as they were “free to do business and make a
lot of money.”
That so
called “notion” was not backed with evidence, of course, and could have been
furthest from the truth. But, that was the “general impression” those days.
Perhaps the Chinese themselves encouraged the moulding of such an impression
with their action or lack of it rather.
Then things
changed, should I say, for the better. The community showed they really cared
for the nation. They wanted to have a say in politics, on how things ought to
be done for their own benefit and that of fellow Malaysians, regardless of the
political parties they supported.
And that’s
how it is until now.
But a few
days ago, PKR president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Ismail said in an interview with
Sin Chew Daily that her party’s survey showed that young Chinese are somehow
reluctant to go to the polls with many of them “don’t even register as voters”.
According to
Wan Azizah, only 13% of Chinese youths aged between 21 and 29 have registered
as voters, compared to 80% of Malays in the same age bracket.
It’s a given
that she’s concerned because Pakatan Harapan deems the support of Chinese and
non-Malays as crucial for them to win GE14, which many believe is to be held
this year.
I’m not
going to dwell into such concerns. Instead, I would like to put forth some
questions.
Why the
political apathy? Are young Chinese not interested in politics? To me, it’s yes
and no.
Those not
interested could be due to “lack of exposure”, or they simply don’t give a
damn…
However,
there are many who are interested in and fully aware of the current state of
affairs in this country.
Take
students for example. A big number of young Chinese pursuing tertiary education
in the country are in private universities where “political activities are not
felt ” compared to public varsities.
Still being
internet savvy, these youngsters are not deprived of information and thus have
their pulses on the goings-on.
Having said
that, the question to ask is: are young Chinese satisfied with how things are
run in this country? Or are they so contented that they feel it’s not necessary
to change things via the ballot box, hence their unwillingness to register as
voters?
I dare say
that many Chinese, young or old, are not happy (to put it mildly) with
government policies they see as discriminatory to non-Malays, or Malay-bias
policies. They have always wanted all that to change.
Even
pro-government Chinese feel that way, but they maintain “change must be from
the inside”.
So, have the
young given up seeking fair and balanced policies envisaged all this while? Or
they have given up on the desire for change?
Or have they
resigned to a “whatever” and “come what may” situation? No matter on which side
of the fence they are on.
To Wan
Azizah, Chinese youths’ indifference towards politics “has a lot to do with the
current state of political affairs”.
The
opposition leader did not elaborate. Nor did she give the specifics. At least
not during the recent Sin Chew Daily interview.
Leaving that
aside, I must say that of late our politicians from both sides of the political
divide are making headlines for wrong reasons.
So, the big
question to ask now is: are young Malaysian Chinese fed up with politics, or
it’s the politicians that’s peeing them off, opposition as well as government?
And the
bigger question is: who should first change their attitude? The young Chinese?
Or politicians themselves?
Comments - Showing displeasure by the way they are spending their hard earned money and business whoare baised to them suffer the most
1 comment:
Looks like no more Nasi lemak for breakfast but kari Mee or wanton mee
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