Fahmi Reza teaches democracy on TikTok

GE15 | With voters as young as 18 hitting the polls for the first time come Nov 19, there have been many efforts to prepare youths for the occasion.

In comes graphic designer Fahmi Reza, sitting in front of his phone with a whiteboard and some markers, teaching them about electoral politics through his TikTok live streams.

Dubbed a “democracy class”, Fahmi spends one to two hours on live stream relaying thorough but simplified lessons to first-time voters since Parliament was dissolved on Oct 10.

Known for his irreverent protest art, Fahmi’s class took on a more sober topic - the right to vote and the power to choose a member of Parliament.

Since then, he has also taught lessons on the differences between direct and non-direct democracies as well as the functions and responsibilities of the Malaysian Parliament. The live stream on TikTok alone attracts thousands of viewers, with clips and screenshots of the classes shared by netizens growing his reach exponentially.

One of the clips went viral on Twitter on Oct 26, where Fahmi spoke about the country’s various political parties and where they stand on the political spectrum. It has had more than 645,000 views as of yesterday.

Stickers and drawings

Fahmi has a particular set of tools to conduct his classes and each class follows the same structure. He always starts his class by writing and drawing about the subject of the day. 

During class on political spectrums, Fahmi drew an axis graph about the conservative, progressive, authoritarian and libertarian ideology pools. 

At the bottom of the board are stickers he made featuring each Malaysian political party’s flags.

As he sorted each flag according to its spectrum, Fahmi explained the parties’ histories and functions. He would also describe the four ideologies to his audience.

“Conservatives prefer stability, whereas progressive parties want change, or rather, they want to change everything.

“Libertarians are pro-freedom while authoritarians want tough laws,” Fahmi explained during the session.

Although he is essentially alone at home, recording himself talking to a screen, his classes are far more interactive than political events on the campaign trail, where politicians typically speak to a passive audience.

Viewers on his live stream are often encouraged to comment with their input and are also quizzed on what they were taught at the end of each session. His tone is also conversational, avoiding jargon, with his cat Bobby’s frequent appearances lending to the casual nature that seems to draw the crowds.

At times, the graphic artist may receive a warning from TikTok for spreading misinformation. This is usually the case when multiple people report his content while he streams.

However, this does not appear to stop the artist at all as he would often cite the sources he used for his classes.

Flooded by people asking him who to vote for, he told his audience that he is not trying to sway their opinions on the matter, just helping them increase their political literacy.

READ MORE: First time voter? Check out our GE15 guide

One-man army against youth political illiteracy

His efforts have earned him accolades among netizens who have lauded him for doing his bit to address voter apathy and ignorance of the electoral process.

“While the political parties and Election Commission should be doing more to educate citizens, @kuasasiswa is single-handedly doing a splendid job with his Kelas Demokrasi so that voters make the right choice come GE15,” Twitter user, Aaron Denison, said, referring to Fahmi’s Twitter handle.

At 45, it has been a while since Fahmi Reza himself was a college student, but his handle “Kuasa Siswa” is not a reference to himself. It refers to his 2009/10 Student Power lecture series - an interactive, multimedia talk on the history of student unions in Malaysia, which he took on a tour across the nation, much to the ire of the authorities.

At the time, students were barred from political affiliations by the University and University Colleges Act, and Fahmi’s lecture then was a bid to spark political awareness among young people.

As his trademark long hair has changed from black to grey over the past decade, so have political restrictions on students.

On Wednesday, the Universiti Malaya and International Islamic University Malaysia student unions hosted Pakatan Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim in a dialogue with youths, and at various campuses nationwide, students put up stickers on notice boards to show how they would vote.

Coming to a campus near you

Still, the eagerness to vote or even host political events does not necessarily mean political literacy among young people is better than in 2009.

A survey by Malaysiakini and research company Vase.ai, published yesterday, showed 93 percent of first-time voters aged 18 to 30 polled said they will be voting, but more than half struggled with naming three cabinet ministers or knowing how many seats are needed to form a government.

In a way, the large number of followers of Fahmi’s classes also indicates how more political education is needed.

“Shocking, the number of Malaysians that don't even know the parties and their political ideologies.

“We need more people like @kuasasiswa to educate the public,” observed Twitter user @sharvein2898.

Due to the success of his online classes, Fahmi was invited to speak at local universities by student unions at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

The structure of his physical lessons mirrors the ones on TikTok but instead of talking to a screen, he is in a room full of people, around 40 to 50 students. Just like on TikTok, the class is highly interactive, with questions and answers throughout the session.

Fahmi also encouraged his social media followers to invite him to hold Kelas Demokrasi at their campuses. But not all institutions of higher learning will welcome him.

Apparently kicked out of UKM yesterday, Fahmi was forced to relocate to a nearby cafe - with his students eagerly in tow.

Fahmi did not respond to Malaysiakini’s request for an interview.

READ MORE: Youth voters not clued in, but still eager to vote

Unpacking the complexities of Malaysian politics

What makes Kelas Demokrasi such a hit with young people?

According to Institute Of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) analyst Muhammad Harris Zainul, Fahmi’s gift is the ability to make such dense information accessible.

“He is not preoccupied with useless jargon that would only serve to alienate his audience,” Harris said.

Although he shot to fame after his caricature of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak as a clown landed him in hot water, Fahmi is also known to use his art to criticise all sides of the political divide, making his non-partisanship an asset.

“Unfortunately, there are not that many content creators that are politically neutral. This will be important for first-time voters who have yet to make up their minds on who they will be voting for.

“Fahmi’s neutral approach makes it more genuine and objective, allowing him to speak to anyone regardless of their political stance,” Harris said.

The fact that Fahmi is already an internet sensation also does not hurt, Taylor’s University media and communications lecturer Benjamin Loh said.

“Fahmi himself is a charismatic figure who has been at the forefront of empowering youth with important political knowledge since his Kuasa Siswa days.

“The use of TikTok has provided the ideal platform to widen his reach,” Loh said, agreeing with Harris that what makes Fahmi successful is his ability to unpack the complexity of Malaysian politics in an accessible way.

Young people want to know more

Harris said unlike older voters, young people are more disengaged from politics because they are largely unable to connect politics and their lives or livelihoods.

He said that while the EC has disseminated information packs to educated first-time voters, the information provided is very procedural, only providing instructions on how to vote or check for voting locations.

Loh added that while Malaysia’s education system touches on the basics of politics, it does not provide deeper political literacy, steering away from teaching the country’s ideologies, democracy and the practical aspects of the two.

“Many of the resources made available by the EC are focused on the specifics of voting but not on how to choose the candidate to vote for. 

“How do you consider their platforms, their credibility, their work ethic, their values or their party affiliation?” Loh questioned.

Harris said Fahmi’s success shows how young people are willing to learn if they are provided with the resources in a way that speaks to them.

“Despite what some politicians would like us to think, I am confident that the youth of Malaysia are politically engaged. 

“They want to know more about the political process, public policies, and how all these can have an effect on their day-to-day lives and future.”

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