YOUNG voters, don’t be indignant. Come out and vote on November 19, lest your dream of a big house or a good job remains a dream.

Your generation grew up with the internet, setting you apart from the earlier generations in the way they consume content and relate to brands. Some 99% of you own a smart phone. Internet penetration among all of you is almost 100%. 

Due to your early exposure to the internet, you have a better ability to grasp and process and cut through large amount of information and seamlessly navigate between the online and offline worlds.

You are more understanding of and receptive to the fact that people are different from each other. 

You have grown accustomed to seeking solutions and answers independently, with readily accessible information.

With this information, entrepreneurship also seems far more attainable.

With the traditional pathway to a successful career – from education to moving up the corporate ladder – feeling seemingly out of reach and uncertain, a majority of you aspire to work for yourselves and hope to run your own business in the future.

The generation before you was also raised on the internet, but has felt less empowered to start their own business due to financial constraints.

Your generation yearns for careers that enable original thought and ideas, and entrepreneurship delivers on this promise of creative control.

The digitally driven educational landscape of today means a that majority of you gained exposure to the empowerment of entrepreneurialism at a very early age and you can start applying those skills right away.

Many of you consume news in a different way, with more relying on social media than newspapers on a daily basis for their source of news.

Despite reports to the contrary, a majority of you do place importance on value for money. Before making a purchase online, many of you would compare prices at physical stores and take the shipping rate into consideration and the delivery speed.

As such, to succeed in the e-commerce industry, online vendors would need to have a winning combination of both price and convenience  to capture your generation.

The skyrocketing cost of education and living, coupled with the experience of the Covid pandemic as well as corrupt politicians and civil servants, has resulted in many of you doubting the present set of leaders can govern the country responsibly.

A lot of you saw your parents, your elder siblings and relatives get retrenched. Eating out is becoming a luxury. Dreams of higher education in a local university remains a dream, much less going abroad.

The generation before you already struggled to get married, buy a home and provide education. Even now, you find yourself facing the same challenges. 

With quality of life deteriorating, do you see the point of the present group of leaders continuing to govern after 60 years of doing so?

If the government that administered this country for the last 60 years is returned to power on November 19, you can bet that achieving these milestones will remain a dream for the majority of you.

The challenge for young and first-time voters, is to build a civic and political setting in which people – from ordinary citizens to elected officials – can cultivate the motivations and capacities they need to work together and make the system function. 

Your collective vote – if exercised correctly – will create the space for the people to learn to work at it, with each other. – October 30, 2022.

* FLK reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.