I recall a time when a few people, myself included, found the idea of a government being led by an old leader as appalling,especially with the idea of youth empowerment being touted as the next step towards progress.
But unlike those people, I’m not afraid to admit my error.
That old leader is our current prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who just turned 94.
The discussion goes deeper than just stating that someone is too old for public office or that they’re too young for any real responsibility.
But we should start approaching this in a more light-hearted manner.
I recall the late United States president Ronald Reagan’s famous witty comment during the 1984 US presidential election debate against the younger Democrat Walter Mondale.
The issue of his age became a central point to discredit him as a candidate for a second term in office.
Reagan responded by stating how he wouldn’t, for political reasons, exploit his opponent’s youth and inexperience, to which the audience laughed in agreement.
Reagan would continue to win the election for a second term.
Behind that wit, however, is what I believe is the nature of age: the young are blessed with innocence and idealism while the aged are known for their wisdom.
Efforts by Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who is 26, to reduce the age definition of youth from 40 to 30 years was met with opposition from ‘youth’ societies claiming it would be unfair to do so.
At the same time, many of these people likely fall into the category of those who rejected the idea of an older prime minister by the reason of age alone, which is a big contradiction.
This hypocrisy is caused by one thing:fear.
Fear of the unknown, fear of losing one’s position and fear for a future that is uncertain when placed in the hands of the young.
Which is why when it suits us, we call for “youthful empowerment” but when the deck is stacked against us, we cry for more time from the youth, essentially telling them to sit down and do as you’re told!
Now that the #Undi18 constitutional amendment has been passed, lowering the age of voting, perhaps it’s time we set aside our fascination with age or ageing.
Just as it is with the fear of passing more responsibilities to the young,whether they are able to bring positive change or losing one’s position to a new age group, so too are the fears of detachment from current progress among the aged, concerns that the young are never represented by the aged and of not being in command.
I’m sure many of us, at some point in our lives, had felt inadequate due to our age.
I, personally, have been outspoken against the elderly.
But we would be guilty of the same things ourselves if we let a person’s age cloud our judgment.
So it doesn’t matter if you have a 65-year-old who is caught in a foolish act of corruption and, at the same time, a 26-year-old with wisdom beyond his years.
Age doesn’t matter,substance does.
UMAR H. ZULKARNAIN
Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia,
Seputeh division, Kuala Lumpur