LETTERS: In a democracy, the sign of political maturity is allowing youths to participate actively in the electoral process. At present, more than 100 nations allow citizens aged 18 and above to be legally registered as a voter.
On July 16, 2019, the Dewan Rakyat passed the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019, also known as the Undi18 bill, which reduces the voting age in national and state elections from 21 to 18.
This historic bipartisan move by Parliament put Malaysia on the map, alongside democratic countries like the United States, Germany, Canada and Japan.
Unfortunately, the joy was premature. After almost two years, 7.8 million new voters might not be gazetted in the electoral roll by July. This inevitably sparks a polemic among youth activists.
There were some quarters who argued that the campaign was a flawed one by the previous government. Senator Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said since the youth were not ready, political education needed to be institutionalised before allowing them to vote.
Meanwhile, President of the Upper House of Parliament Tan Sri Rais Yatim went further by saying that it might create disparity among the old and young in politics.
As someone who has been involved in political empowerment of youths for almost a decade, I invoke my right to differ. Voting at age 18 is not merely about the right to vote.It's about basic democracy and citizenship education. What's the point of offering political education if they are unable to practise it? The argument that youths are unable to decide between bad and good is an insult to the people's intelligence.
Compare that with setting 18 as the legal age to consume alcoholic beverage and smoking. Doesn't that mean we are trusting youths to make the right choices? So, it is ironic that the question of maturity is raised when it comes to politics.
Why do we tend to perceive 18 as the age when people are only likely to have fun? At the same time, thousands of youths are already employed and paying taxes.
Most of them are working in the rapidly expanding gig economy. Unlike the elder generation, this technology-savvy generation was born in the period of enormous structural change. The youths of today are at the receiving end of maximum information exchanges.
To quote the futurist, Alvin Toffler, it is the period of excessive quantity of daily information! Hence, to refer to youths' immaturity is an invalid argument.
For almost two years, the group of activists from Undi18 along with various non-governmental organisations have been doing a remarkable job in strengthening youths' understanding of democracy. From my point of view, virtual youth parliament is the way the younger generation can teach the old on how to cope with technology in politics.
At the end of the day, the government must eventually take the step towards gazetting 7.8 million new voters in the electoral roll by July. To quote Shakespeare's play in Hamlet, to be or not to be, that is the question!
Rizal Hamdan
Executive director, NADI Centre, Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times