Open letter to the Youths, vote for issues this Saturday

AS at this moment, it’s a muddled picture of how this Saturday will turn out.

Past performance is not indicative of the results this Saturday.

A lot has changed about how the rakyat will vote since the state elections of Sarawak, Johor and Melaka.

There is a popular belief that young voters are apathetic.

Pakatan is relying on the voters, young, first timer and those who voted previously to come out in bigger numbers this Saturday.

BN, secretly, is hoping  on a low turnout, factors that resulted in them sweeping the Johor and Melaka state elections.

At this stage of the campaign, all 3 coalitions are finding it unsettling that their strategies to turn out the youth vote rests on faith – a failure on their part for not focusing enough on the issues that younger voters are most concerned about.

These are the issues that concerned every Malaysian in the country today:-

• Corruption
• Inflation
• The country’s economic development
• lack of employment opportunities
• Lack of affordable housing
• Uncertainty about their future
• Mental health
• Student loan debt
• Financial distress
•  Actions on environmental issues and climate change
• Gender equality
• Reducing inequality
• How can young people work with the government and civil society organizations to respond to the impact of COVID-19 and build a stronger post-pandemic economic and social system
• Why do rural communities still experience lack of access to adequate water supply and sanitation facilities
• While the world keeps evolving digitally, why our public schools still have very limited access to computers and IT facilities
• How the political parties, if they are voted in, plan to build a stronger economic future

Yes the list is long and the issues will impact and affects the future of the youths of today.

Did any of the coalition seeking your votes proposed evidence-based youth policies, tailored and adapted to national and local contexts, to help ensure that the above challenges are addressed?

Young people are at the center of innovation, constantly exploring ways in which processes can be modified to produce efficient and sustainable outcomes.

Our country has been struggling to bridge the gap between education and employment. There has been significant debate on mismatch between the productive and skilled youth and needs of employers.

There is also much noise about orienting youth towards youth entrepreneurship.

Did any of the coalitions seeking your votes proposed real concrete steps where if they are voted in to govern, will provide a suitable environment - a transparent and reliable regulatory environment that facilitates entrepreneurship - for young entrepreneurs and start-ups to implement innovative solutions that stimulate job creation?

Did any of the coalitions seeking your votes proposed any concrete action plans to ensure that e-learning platforms and IT facilities are at wide reach, especially within rural areas, so that learning across all communities goes uninterrupted?

Young people now are given a voice through the Undi 18 legislation.

 And the young people need to act now.

Yes, none of the coalitions seeking your votes this Saturday proposed concrete actions for any of the above.

Two of the three coalitions seeking your votes this Saturday was governing the country for the past 2+ years and both already failed miserably on the first few issues set out above specifically on continued corruption in the country.

Corruption now ranks far ahead of the threats from the pandemic that can paralyze the future of the young people in this country.

For successive years and a change of few governments, addressing corruption was merely a lip service only.

Yes, measures were proposed and concrete steps were laid out in how the planned to address this issue but there were no will, politically, to really enforce it.

Vote solely on the issue of corruption in the country for your future. - DagangNews.com

DISCLAIMER :  The opinions expressed within the content are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of the DagangNews.com editorial.