THE problem with Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Senator Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal’s recent statement about Undi18 does not lie on whether he thinks 18-year-olds should be enfranchised but, more disturbingly, his mistaken belief that young voters must first be “educated” to make an informed decision.

The debate about youth enfranchisement certainly does not extend to just Malaysia’s democracy, when established democracies such as the UK or the US are still grappling with, or still resistant to, the idea of enfranchising the young.

For example, the Scottish government passed a bill allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote for their representatives in the Scottish and local government elections in June 2015.

What is even more impressive is that the Scottish government set a radical precedent before this by allowing the same age group to have a say in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, which was arguably the most important voting exercise in Scotland’s political history.

Yet, the UK still has not fully enfranchised its 16- and 17-year-olds, and crucially those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were denied a say in the EU referendum – as opposed to their Scottish counterparts.

The sure-fire way for improving participation in politics is to expand its electoral roll by enfranchising as many people as possible.

Study has also suggested the earlier in their formative years people come into contact with politics the more they will understand politics, which is important for our democracy.

Even the two-time Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was exposed to colonial politics at an early age and began writing op-eds under his pseudonym Che-Det, highlighting the plights of the Malays right after he graduated from high school.

There is also a tendency that if you have voted, you are more likely to vote in the future. So, the logic goes that 18-year-olds who do vote will continue to vote as they age, and that also allows young voters to learn about their ideology, country and democracy as they kept voting. After all, the best education to being a voter is to go and vote.

If there is one item that should remain uncontroversial in highly polarised Malaysia, it must be Undi18 Bill – which cut the voting age to 18 – for it has received the support of 211 MPs present in Parliament on July 16, 2019.

It should be a non-issue since the Parliament has unequivocally willed it, so the present government should be criticised for not gazetting the Undi18 bill or expediting its implementation.

Coming back to Wan Fayhsal, what I find unacceptable is that he believes there must first be an institutionalised political education first before Malaysian youths are granted the right to vote.

Or as the deputy minister himself puts it: the right to vote necessarily comes with the moral duty to do so judiciously. Although the right to vote was no doubt earned by our founding fathers through their negotiations with our former colonial master, it should be noted that it was an unconditional gift to posterity so long you are citizens of Malaysia.

Going by the deputy minister’s logic, what are the guarantees that the 21-year-olds who are eligible to vote have attained the necessary “knowledge” to vote judiciously? Or what are the guarantees that those who have been voting consistently have in fact been voting judiciously?

When Wan Fayhsal spoke of the need of institutionalised political education, then it must be also true that he believes there is a right and wrong way of voting.

After all, if voting is a neutral exercise where there will never be a “correct” vote, then why is there a need for education?

What is Wan Fayhsal planning to inculcate to the young voters with his “political education”? First time voters should only be informed about basic voters’ education such as ensuring your ballot paper is untainted or marking your X correctly, something which the Electoral Commission has been consistently doing.

Then they should form their own political opinion and vote according to their preference.

Most importantly, there should not be any divisional barrier – including education—in democratic practices such as voting, because democracy should not be discriminatory and complex till everyone is granted a vote whether you are young or old, well-educated, or illiterate.

Perhaps we should ask Wan Fayhsal: would he still be insisting on “young voters voting judiciously” or institutionalised education if he knew for a fact that the young electorates are overwhelmingly supportive of the current prime minister or his party and coalition?

Our country has had 14 general elections and almost all of them are conducted in a peaceful manner. I strongly believe our democracy and consistent voting have enabled our first-time voters, even as young as 18, capable of participating in an election in a rational and peaceful manner.

Come to think of it, the idea of an institutionalised political education is an insult to the intelligence of the young people.

That is precisely the other barrier that young people face these days. It is most exemplified by the Senate Speaker Rais Yatim when he said the 18-year-olds are not ready because they have not faced the reality of life and therefore should not shoulder the responsibility to determine the direction of the country.

Rais is certainly not alone in believing that and the main problem is older people tend to transpose their 18-year-old experience to the 18-year-olds of today.

With the advent of technology and great accessibility to information, 18-year-olds are certainly different to the 18-year-old Rais and there is a bigger argument to enfranchise the young at this juncture of history.

The world’s economy is seen to be working against the young, while unemployment is at its historical high due to Covid-19 and the planet is currently facing an existential crisis.

The stakes could not have been higher for the young voters now and since they are more likely to live longer than any of us then why are their views not being consulted?

Lastly, if Malaysia could allow any 18-year-olds to join the Armed Forces and they are ready to put their lives in the country’s hands, I could never understand any pretext or excuse of delaying the implementation of Undi18. – February 21, 2021.

* Kenneth Cheng has always been interested in the interplay between human rights and government but more importantly he is a father of two cats, Tangyuan and Toufu. When he is not attending to his feline matters, he is most likely reading books about politics and human rights or playing video games. He is a firm believer in the dictum “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”.

* 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.