IT’S not every day we get to read good news from the Ministry of Youth and Sports especially after the toppling of the previous government on May 9, 2018. I had to reread report a few times to be convinced that the news from minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman did not have anything to do with e-sports. The news that I’m talking about is the amendment to the Youth Societies and Youth Development Act (Amendment) 2019 (Act 668) that was passed yesterday in the Dewan Rakyat, which was tabled by the youth and sports minister himself. 

The amendment effectively redefined “youth” as persons aged 30 and below, from 40 and below.I prefer to call this younger group the “real youth”. 

I have not seen young people in this newly defined age group talking about this piece of news on social media or even in real life. Truth be told, most young Malaysians don’t know the official definition of youth. Perhaps they don’t even know such a definition exists. 

Nevertheless, the amendment was tabled and it was followed by a long debate among the members of parliament. 

The most significant reaction was obviously the statement from the Malaysia Youth Council president Jufitri Juha. In a statement written from Russia with not much love, he asked the minister to at least consult the council before tabling the amendment in parliament. Strongly against the bid to lower the youth cut-off age to 30, he said the age signifying the end of youth should rightly be 35.

He said it would be more reasonable to change the definition of youth to 15—35 years of age “before  relevant parties could agree to give way to those aged 30 and below to lead youth organisations such as the MBM”. 

Now if he were paying attention to what the amendment proposes, he would know that it allows for a grace period of up to 2021 for the youth organisations to adapt to the new cut-off age for youth. How is it relevant for youth organisations to set the age limit at 35 to allow a “smooth” transition when the MYC does not seem to have a clue about the allowed timeframe for the change to take effect?  A period of almost two years is about just enough time for the youth organisations to replace their leaders who exceed the age limit. 

It’s also worth noting that back in 2015, then youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin had spoken about lowering the definition of youth to age 30. What is more interesting is that in the same speech he gave at the opening ceremony of Festival Mesra Belia 1Malaysia in Bentong, he stated that the then government will implement the “new” definition in 2018. It’s now 2019, and the speech was made in 2015. If MYC was paying attention to the minister at the time, it would have had four years to prepare for the “harmonious transition of leadership” that Jufitri complained about in his statement. 

The historic birth of New Malaysia on May 9 will never be forgotten by Malaysians but its spirit seems to be slowly waning by the day. But then there’s always times like this, where some hopeful news broke out and we all would remember again that New Malaysia is all about the change of old to the new. The old politics shall be destroyed absolutely and be changed with the new politics of values and togetherness. Interestingly, the MYC current high committee was elected last October, just a few months after the new government was formed. 

Let’s take a look at the ages of those on the high committee of MYC. The president himself is 40 years old. Here’s a list of the other members and and how old they are:

Deputy president Muhammad Fadzli Hasan (37) 
Vice-presidents Izzat Afifi Abdul Hamid (30), Sherhan Nizam (34), Lim Swee Bok (38), Nurul Huda Mohamed Afandi (40), Azuwan Marjan (33) 
Secretary-general Hasnul Haniff Harun (32) 
Assistant secretary-general Atiqah Syairah Shaharuddin (30)
Honorary treasurer Haridass Ramasamy (34) 
Assistant honorary treasurer Mohd Nizam Omar (37) 

That’s a total of 11 individuals whose average age is 35. Yes, you read that right, 35 is the average age of the current high committee members of MYC. These calculations may be a fun exercise but they are definitely worth pondering upon. 

I know, I know. Age is just a number, obviously. But what about the youth who are not a part of a youth organisation, who do not even know about the existence of MYC? Because I think it’s time the resources that have been flowing into MYC be utilised to reach as many young people as possible. Because I strongly believe that it’s impossible for MYC to effectively represent youngsters aged 15-30 when its leaders, the ones making the big decisions for the youth in terms of empowerment programmes, are mostly nearly 40. 

Let’s rekindle the spirit of New Malaysia. The youth deserve to be represented by people who know them better, who share their lifestyle and culture. If this does not happen now, we will continue to live in a New Malaysia that practises old politics. Perhaps forever.

*Ahmad Taqiyuddin Shahriman 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.