COMMENT | Project Youth: Departing from M'sia's status quo

COMMENT | It has been a bumpy 2020 year thus far. Amid an increasingly chaotic international system, the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic, and sudden change in government as elaborated in an earlier writing, we now have former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman recently announcing his intention to form a youth-centred political platform.

He described the initiative as an attempt to alter the existing political setting of feudal mindsets and corrupted patronage. Dismantling bad practices originating from such rooted structures as well as ending established monopolies on power are top priorities. The idea has generated public interest with various personalities weighing in on this proposal.

Many, especially veteran politicians, have disapproved of the move and downplayed its significance, including his former mentor Dr Mahathir Mohamad. It, however, gained open-minded support from opponents such as Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who viewed it as a catalyst to rejuvenate the political scene with more youth representation and candidates across the board.

This "manifesto in progress" intends resetting Malaysia's political affairs in the aftermath of the "Sheraton Move" crisis that confused the rakyat. The proposed youth party wants to be an alternative to help make sense of the ongoing events, although will find itself encountering many sceptical Malaysians unwilling to risk striving for change once again.

The challenging task ahead for bold youths such as Syed Saddiq and his team is to translate interest in politics from mere coffee shop opinions...