I attended a family reunion last week and met my 18-year-old niece. When we started talking about the election, she told us that she didn't know who to vote for and would most likely vote for whoever looked better.
“Nah, I don’t know.”
“Maybe I will just vote for a handsome guy?”
No, sis. This is not an idol contest like Produce 101.
In July 2019, the parliament passed a bill that lowered the voting age for general elections from 21 to 18 years old.
While this sounds like good news, in fact, since the election was announced, I have often heard these young people complain about why they should vote.
I just realized that they have no idea what’s happening in the country at all, and they never understand politics; all they care about is school exams and love-hate entanglements in their social circles.
Here is the reality: People who don't usually care about politics don't care which political party will take over the country.
If he/she is forced to come out and vote, in the end, he/she will just follow the trend or vote depending on his/her mood. Or even vote based on the appearance of the politicians.
Do you think he/she can make the best decision?
Anyway, this also implies that we must train the younger generation to be sensitive enough to current affairs and to think independently.
In the future, I hope the government can bring political education to schools. This may include all formal and non-formal teaching and learning procedures aimed at developing civic competencies.
I have a cousin. When he was studying in a secondary school in Perak, the teacher would ask them to read the newspaper every day and check their general knowledge regularly.
This has invisibly cultivated their sensitivity to current affairs and pulled them closer to national affairs. This is a good step, but I didn't notice any other schools doing the same thing.
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