There are currently 4.9 million unregistered voters in Malaysia, and most of them are young adults. Terrible situation?

Yes, says Lee Khai Loon. "Voting is a basic right for a Malaysian citizen," he said. "This is a very serious situation."

Lee ( photo ) is the convener for Youth For Change (Y4C), a youth-targeted NGO co-organizing the "Youth Can Make A Difference" voter campaign together with the Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH).

The campaign is also supported by a number of civil society groups, including the National Young Lawyers' Committee, and includes volunteers from local colleges.

A team of volunteers, including Lee, visited malaysiakini on Tuesday to speak about the campaign, which aims to educate youth on Malaysian elections and the process of voting.

According to the team, there are huge misunderstandings among the youth about voting and the registration process.

"We're trying to make the registration process as 'youthful' as possible," Lee said.

"I've received lots of questions from people at drives," he laughed. "They've asked whether they will be penalized for not voting, or whether their citizenship will be revoked."

Questions like these will be answered by the very clever, very colourful pamphlets and flyers put together by the young, passionate team. The pamphlets are neon-green and resemble a SIM-card pack, which have caused problems during distribution as most passers-by refuse what they assumed to be promotional materials.

However, they (the pamphlets, not the passers-by) are filled to the brim with necessary information on elections. There are Q&A sections that cover basic questions like "What is an election?" to more specific ones, "What is the role of the Elections Commission?"

"Young people usually find that they cannot vote because of a technicality they didn't know about," said Dipendra Harshad Rai, who is also deputy chairperson for the National Young Lawyers' Committee.

"Then they procrastinate and never get around to it," he added.

A carnival finale

So far, the organizers have held voter registration drives in venues all over the Klang Valley, in colleges and in public places where young people hang out.

"At the drives, we distribute educational flyers that teach young people why they should vote," said Aaron Lo, a Y4C volunteer and Sunway College student ( photo ).

"We usually ask them how old they are, and if they're above 21, we direct them to the booth where they can immediately register as a voter."

The campaign organizers have been working closely with the Election Committee, who sends a couple of representatives to register young voters at each drive.

So far the campaign has collected over 350 registrations in seven drives, has distributed hundreds of flyers and pamphlets, and has been seen in Sunway University College, TAR College, and local hang-out spot Desa Setapak.

The team hopes for more voters to sign up at the "Youth Can Make A Difference" finale carnival on July 15 at the KLSCAH in Kuala Lumpur.

The carnival will run from 10am to 2pm, and will feature exhibitions by political parties as well as appearances by young celebrities. There will be a number of things to cater to young tastes, such as hip-hop dances, rock bands and voters' registration booths.

"I think if we can see the number of unregistered voters diminish, we have done very well as a campaign." said Dipendra.

The campaign is first-of-its-kind in Malaysia.

This is the first time, according to the team, that a comprehensive effort to both educate and register youth has been carried out in Malaysia.

"If you google "youth", "voter" and "education"," said Aaron, "our campaign is the only thing that appears."

Sense of hopelessness

The response has been encouraging, says the team, but they know that registration is only the first step. The political apathy among Malaysian youth that inspired the campaign in the first place is, for now, impenetrable.

"A lot of students will just register," said Dipendra. "But at the back of their minds, they are still very averse to be involved in anything that resembles politics."

Brian Yap ( photo ), another campaign volunteer and a New Straits Times columnist, agreed, adding that Malaysian youth have been brought up mistrustful of politics.

"Most young people feel a sense of hopelessness, because they don't think their vote will make a lot of difference," he said.

The media and political structure in the country are largely to blame for this, said the team.

Political issues are rarely framed in a way that interests the average young person, said Yap.

Chua Yee Ling, project coordinator for Y4C, said that the political space in Malaysia does not leave room for young people.

"We are not concerned about politics, because there are no policies geared towards the youth." she lamented.

The team praised the Elections Commission for their cooperation so far, but urged the body to step up their youth-targeted education efforts as well as increase its accountability.

"EC is doing some education, but not doing it effectively, especially among the young people." said Lee.

"This is necessary if we can call ourselves a democratic country, a democratic society."

Automatic registration

He also commented that the ignorance among youth regarding their voter registration status was proof that the EC was not doing a good enough job educating the youth.

"It's up to the EC to reflect on whether they want to improve or to sit and be comfortable with what they have done so far," said Dipendra.

If this is the first step, what's the next?

"We're interested in expanding our efforts," added Lee.

"We have already received invitations from Johor Bahru and Malacca to come and hold drives there."

He also said that if Y4C received invitations from East Malaysia, they would go immediately.

Dipendra has bigger plans.

"The National Young Lawyers Committee wants to look into whether voter registration can be automatic." he said ( photo ).

This process would involve the National Registration Department immediately registering all citizens who have turned 21 since the last election, based on last known addresses.

"The department has a complete database. They definitely have the technical know-how." he added. "I see no reason why it cannot happen."

The dedication in the team's eyes is unmistakable, although they are taking big steps through unchartered territory.

But given the current social climate and the lack of young voters' education in the country, for now, the journey that lies ahead for the campaigners looks like an arduous, uphill climb.