THE Association for Community and Dialogue welcomes Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s plans for a new policy driven multi-ethnic youth platform that could potentially turn into a political party.

It is hoped that the new movement will not turn merely into a capitalist driven technocratic movement or merely to claim back politics from the old guard, but rather a multi-ethnic youth movement that understands the value of local democracy, environmental preservation, human capital development and social security.

Malaysians today deserve a break from old tired ethno-corporate driven politics imbued in monetary hand outs and the influence of powerful corporate entities on political elites and their respective political parties.

The continuous use of money politics for power does not happen in a vacuum, it has an ideology, a structure and a system that continues even if another government comes to power.

Any government that comes to power has to work with the existing system of entrenched interest whether it is about vested politics, bureaucratic self-sufficiency or corporate driven.

For example, the Pakatan Harapan G14 promise for minimum wage of RM1,500 was vehemently opposed by corporate interests and it ended up a mild and insignificant increase.

The U-turn on shutting down the Lynas rare earth plant is another example where environmental concern was put aside to meet corporate interests.

If the concern of local people to preserve the environment would have been taken into consideration as a respect for local democracy, such a U-turn could have been avoided.

The lack of multi-skilled interdisciplinary training and an absence of comprehensive government invested social security has resulted in an underdevelopment of human capital in the country.

The underlying new liberal ideology that has permeated the political landscape since the 1980s needs to be scrapped.

What more a plague like the Covid-19 crisis, which has its roots in environmental degradation and the failure to learn lessons from the SARS pandemic in 2003.

According to US Centres for Disease Control and prevention, three-quarters of new or emerging diseases that infect humans originate in animals.

Biological research suggests that Covid -19 and a high proportion of emerging diseases are zoonoses derived from wildlife.

Environmental degradation brings about close proximity between humans and wildlife.

Therefore, it is hope that the new youth movement led by Syed Saddiq will take a holistic and comprehensive approach to political reforms that would do away with neo liberal economic system, towards a system that serves the common good.

It starts by valuing local democracy, environmental preservation, human capital development and social security. – September 2, 2020.

* Ronald Benjamin is secretary for the Association for Community and Dialogue.

* 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.