BUSKERS who engage in political discourse instead of singing in the streets. Party activists who campaign without the party logo. These are but two of the tools Umno is deploying to secure the elusive millennial vote.

Some 4.1 million unregistered voters, most of whom are about 21 years of age, will give the critical edge in the 14th general election to the political party that manages to win their trust.

The bad news, according to recent studies, is that they are tuning out of politics and are distrustful of politicians, especially those from the establishment, which would be Umno and its ilk in the ruling coalition of Barisan Nasional.

To overcome their aversion to Umno, the party’s youth wing is deploying activists and operatives who would not be outwardly identified as party members, said Umno Youth information chief Jamawi Jaafar.

“Different places will have different strategies. In rural areas, the Umno logo is ok for gettng the young people to come,” Jamawi told The Malaysian Insight.

“But in more urban, middle-class settings, people are reluctant to be seen around Umno programmes. So we use activists who can speak and campaign without a logo.”

These activists are under SPAM,  Umno Youth’s colourfully named  information secretariat. It stands for Skuad Penerangan Anak Muda, or Young People’s Information Squad.

SPAM has also trained speakers to give busker-style ceramah in the streets.

These speakers give speeches on government programmes and are also trained to engage pedestrians in one-on-one dialogues, said Jamawi.

“So far, the reception of these buskers has been positive. They’ve set up near the eating places and no one has told them to leave.”

Anti-establishment

These creative efforts of Umno Youth and the party’s young women’s wing, Puteri Umno, are to win over millennial voters.

In a Merdeka Centre survey of 604 young people, 70% said they did not care for politics.

Seven out of 10 young Malaysians polled said they found politicians to be untrustworthy and the main cause of Malaysia’s problems today. More than half believe politicians do not care about the people.

Puteri Umno chief Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said they were aware of Merdeka Centre’s findings and had come up with initiatives such as the GC30, where activists identify millennial voters and try to engage them.

“We meet up with them and win their hearts. We use a ‘4Ts’ approach,” she said. The four Ts are “Temu” (Meet), “Tawan” (Capture), “Tolak fitnah” (Counter lies)  and “Teruskan gerak kerja” (Continuing with service).

Puteri Umno assistant secretary Fahariyah Md Nordin said the strategy involved members meeting voters in face-to-face settings as well as through social media.

“We tell them that it’s not just about the election but about their future, and how we are going to develop the nation.”

But despite all these programmes, the question remains as to whether millennials will actually buy into Umno’s narrative.

Umno Youth’s Jamawi is confident that millennials will go over to Umno once they have listened to what the party has to say.

“Through our studies, own we find that they are undecided because they don’t understand national issues or because no one has approached them. They don’t want to vote because they have not heard what we have to say.”

Analyst Wan Saiful Wan Jan, however, said millennials were difficult to convince because they were already disillusioned by what they had seen of the established political parties.

“When they look at BN, it seems to them BN is all about defending the old establishment. When they turn to PH, it seems PH is also about propping up old leaders. So they feel that they are not represented.” – December 7, 2017.