“Seven out of 10 young Malaysians polled said they found politicians to be untrustworthy and the main cause of Malaysia’s problems today.”

- Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research

COMMENT | Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong, in discussing the issue of young people not voting (specifically concerning the Chinese community), said something that really displays the tone deafness of the opposition. Not his comment, mind you, but the opposition's failure to understand the demographic that could help them take Putrajaya. He said, “...(DAP) was now seen by Chinese youth as an ‘establishment’ party.”

Pay close attention. This is not peculiar to young Chinese in this country. Young people in this country think that the “opposition” is part of the establishment and you know what, the opposition became part of the establishment when they became a credible threat to BN. If Pakatan Harapan manages to take Putrajaya in this upcoming election, it would truly become part of the political ruling class in a two-party system. That is the reality. It does not have to be a problem though.

Meanwhile, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng reminds young people about the consequences of wasting their vote by their method of preference (giving up), “Once you give up, they win. Who wins? Those in the ruling clique. The status quo will remain." Again with the tone-deafness, young people are apathetic because they think the opposition in this country, following its business-as-usual politics, is already a component of the status quo.

Claiming Harapan “are not the best” but they are “better” than BN which flows trippingly from the CM’s tongue, is not the kind of catchphrase which makes young people think they better get voting but more importantly, displays a profound lack of understanding of what is expected from an opposition.

Don’t bother erecting that strawman of young people wanting a perfect system because young people are not naïve. People often deliberately conflate idealism with naiveté and this just makes the discourse more difficult because telling young people they should vote for you because "although not perfect, you are still better" is not an effective strategy. Young party members telling other young people that they listened to the “party elders” and have accepted the party’s stand does not inspire confidence either.

The Kluang MP also said something that applies to all young people – “They rather focus on earning money or working in Singapore” – okay, maybe that last part of working in Singapore could be replaced with some other country. The underlying point, of believing that politics archives very little and they would be better off working the system or ignoring it, is indicative that the opposition has failed to spark a rebellion against the system because as the days drag on, they behave more and more like the system.

Young people - or at least those I have talked to, those who voice their concerns on social media, those who are involved in some sort of social and political activism, those who participate in the discourse or just the average young person who vents online - are not looking for the perfect system. Those involved in progressive politics merely want the bare minimum they see youths in other countries are fighting for and winning.

They want to see our politicians or political parties doing that. They want to believe that progressive politics will lead to a possibility of change and when politicians using the same strategies as the entrenched establishment ask them to be pragmatic, they either want to spoil their votes or not bother showing up at...