The youth are the future leaders of tomorrow. They can unlock unlimited potential, but they can also imprison the nation if honed wrongly. When Hitler devised the ‘Final Solution’ which saw millions of Jews systematically murdered by gas chambers, he specifically instructed for ‘children’ and young ones to be terminated first. During the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, The Hutu-led militias instructed its armies to kill off the young Tutsis.

It was also reported that the Pakistani military during the battle for Bangladesh independence ran a systematic campaign of allegedly assassinating young intellects who could potentially lead an independent Bangladesh state.

These war criminals knew what they were doing. They specifically targeted the youth to permanently rupture the nation’s future. They knew that a nation devoid of young intellects will be a nation devoid of a future. History has shown us that a country can rise and collapse due to the trajectory taken by the younger generation. We saw this happening in post-war Japan where the young generation spearheaded the modern dynamic Japan which we see today.

The German Revolution was sparked by Rosa Luxemburg who joined politics at the age of 15. Fidel Castro led the Cuban Revolution in his 20s. We see international heroines like Malala Yousafzai making a positive mark on the world at the age of 11. We do not need a crystal ball to predict our country’s trajectory. Instead, we just need to look at the minds of the youth of today to see the future.

Malaysia today is enveloped in a myriad of problems. From widespread corruption to blatant racism. This has led to some Malaysians giving up on our beloved land in pursuit for opportunities elsewhere. Hays, a recruitment firm, through its survey found that 93 percent of Malaysians are prepared to leave the country in search for better prospects.

According to a World Bank report in 2011, the number of skilled Malaysians living abroad rose 300 percent in the last two decades, with two out of every 10 Malaysians with tertiary education opting to leave for either Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries or Singapore. These numbers are scary, but I believe that it can be reversed.

The Malaysian youth will rise up when the time comes. History saw Tunku Abdul Rahman, our first prime minister taking root in governance at the age of 28. Onn Jaafar, the Father of Umno, started lobbying for our future since his early 20s.

Today we see people like Adam Adly, Hanif Mahpa and Afiqah Zulkifli who would sacrifice their personal comfort to liberate the mind of the youth from the clutches of the Universities and University Colleges Act or AUKU (an act intended to limit academic freedom).

The youth of Malaysia are also getting more sensitive to the realities on the ground. This is due to the increase in education level and exposure via the social media. The rate of literacy in Malaysia has reached 94 percent. Approximately 1.5 out 4 Malaysians hold a diploma/degree. This is encouraging if compared to other countries in Asean.

When 5,006 university students were polled on the status of our embattled Primed Minister Najib Abdul Razak, more than 91 percent distrusted him due to the ongoing 1MDB scandal. This indicates that the youth are catching up with local issues.

The deciders of Putrajaya

The number of young people registering as voters has also drastically increased from the past. Amongst youth of voting age (21 years old and above), 73 percent have registered to vote. Voter registration is lowest amongst the 21 and 22-year olds (22 percent).

However, it is encouraging to see that voter registration rates rise tremendously starting from 25 years old. By the time Malaysian youth reach 35 years of age, nine out of 10 young Malaysians are registered as voters. By the 14th general election, it is estimated that 45-55 percent of the electorate will be dominated by the young generation. We will effectively be the deciders of Putrajaya.

This however does not mean that we should be complacent. According to the Election Commission chief, there are still more than 4 million unregistered youths. This must be addressed well.

The youth are also associating a lot to the multi-racial Malaysian identity. The trend of having multiracial political parties seems to have been heartily embraced, according to pollster Merdeka Centre. Seventy-seven percent of the Malaysian youth who could vote said they would vote for a multiracial party which could represent all Malaysians regardless of ethnicity or religion.

A survey carried out by Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) in 2015 showed that the youth between 18 to 25 years were the most open and accommodating than the older groups. Despite a high 40 percent of these youth admitting that they are racists, 91 percent of Malaysian youth have friends from other races and 63 percent of them are willing to vote for a leader from a different race.

When asked, 62 percent of the youth said that they were even comfortable with having a relative married to a person of a different race. This is definitely progressive for the creation of an inclusive Malaysia.

We therefore must protect the future from being corrupted by hatred and deceit. We must ensure that we fend off attempts to indoctrinate the youth with racism and bigotry. The youth must also fight to preserve the moral fabric of unity which ties us together as one nation. If all else fails, the youth who we invest in today, will save the day tomorrow.

SYED SADDIQ SYED ABDUL RAHMAN is a part-time lecturer at Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) Malaysia and is Asia’s best debater, winning the United Asia Debate Championship in May 2015.