WHILE politicians and big-headed CEOs liberally used the phrase “the future” to refer to the youth to sell their pitch in the past, very little of the voice of “the future” was heard in the mainstream media.

Unlike today, where “youth” has gained as a political commodity through a combination of statistics and technology (aka social media), “youths” in the past were punching bags for politicians to blame social ills and the like.

The cultural industry is by-and-large the domain of youth culture, while part of the tradition of youth cultures is to dumbfound the older generation.

Therefore, if the old people “get it”, that means its cultural voice and force is lost and it needs to further dumbfound the old guards.

In both of my vocations as an underground musician and university academic, my clients are mostly youths (or at least younger than I am) and I differ in my opinion about youths from most of my peers in both worlds as a result.

I have faith in them, especially their emerging forms of cultural resistance and resilience.

I always believe there is a silver lining to every tragedy. Hence, here’s three reasons why the current political stasis in Malaysia is a fertile ground for youth resistance.

1. Technology is always on youth’s side

No generations have ever been as intrinsically tied to technology as Millennials and Gen Y.

Yes, there are always social and psychological ills that come along with media technologies but it also develops different paradigms of generational thinking and attitudes unprecedented in recent human history.

Think of the so-called “ills” that technology brings along as “test runs” of what to expect and what to fine tune.

This process takes a while and in fact, the more something seems dangerous to adults, the more attractive it is to youths.

So, let nature run its course, with adults often repeatedly being alarmed with contemporary youth behaviour, it’s just the fabric of the adult-youth relationship.

Youths will figure it out. After all, if you’re an adult, weren’t you once young and foolish too?

2. Frustration begets creativity

Complacency is the prime enemy of creativity and for a long time Malaysia’s economic prosperity – which initially did wonders in alleviating Malaysian society to better things – began turning on itself, and essentially made Malaysians into massive consumers with materialistic desires and ideals that would make any fat American tourist proud.

The tightening economic woes of the country is a cyclical global phenomenon that we are experiencing not for the first time but a first after a long period of “good times”.

As they say, all good things must come to an end, and no one is excluded from this, even Malaysia, as hard as you may pray for it to go away.

I am amazed and entertained by the sheer number of memes, videos and even parodies of songs that I’ve come across on social media that I have become envious of their sheer output.

Malaysians are an expressive and vocal lot – just not the way more liberal and open-minded adults think how it should be.

To the adults reading this: I understand your hopes and fear for our youth, but give them some credit when you see them glued to their smartphones – they might be coming up with some real quality digital dissent that you might not get.

3. The forgotten present adults were once youths too

There is the golden age range in which most human beings are neglected and forgotten – that is the age range of 21 to about 45.

In this 20-odd-year range, youths graduate from being the future into minions having to scrape by for a living and prove their worth – when in actual fact, these are the most exciting yet exasperating years that any modern adult has to live through.

I am currently in this age range group. Nobody cares about you – the elders, that is – yet.

So, what are you to do if you find yourself in this situation? The best method is to keep engaging with the youth but not the way politicians or CEOs do, which is more akin to market research.

You can engage just by attempting to tune into their cultural norms and appetites – watch their films, listen to their songs, find out their celebrities.

These are simple things that ironically annoy most adults but engagement doesn’t need a darn survey or the like.

Have a simple mundane conversation with them, ask them what tickles their fancy and you’ll be transported into an alternate universe that you did not exist in the present.

That’s how us forgotten adults engage with youth and unfortunately, there’s not many of us around. – August 12, 2022.

* Azmyl Yunor is a touring underground recording artiste, and an academic in media and cultural studies. He has published articles on pop culture, subcultures and Malaysian cultural politics. He adheres to the three-chords-and-the-truth school of songwriting, and Woody Guthrie’s maxim “All you can write is what you see”. He is @azmyl on Twitter.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.