IN the first week of 2022, I was interviewed by a seasoned journalist regarding the electoral impact of young people and specifically the political party Muda, and I could conclude he remains unconvinced by the party and somehow bemused about my seemingly contradictory views.

I confided in him most of the things that I do not like about Muda, while at the same time thinking about voting for the party. 

My opinions about Muda and its president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman have not changed much. I still largely stand by what I penned two years ago.

Nevertheless, given how established parties have continued treating politics as a means of attaining power rather than a form of public service, I might contemplate voting Muda out of protest against those that have come before, yet have since persistently failed us.

However, there is plenty to critique about Muda. First things first, beyond the boring platitude of “saving nation” or “youth aspiration”, Muda has still failed to showcase for what it really stands.

The five pillars on which Muda was founded did not tell us much how their legislators will vote if elected if the opportunity arises.

Nobody would reject the notion of democratic participation, economic justice, new politics, human dignity and party for all Malaysians, but if there is nothing concrete a political party to say other than repetitively drumming these slogans, then sooner rather than later Muda will inadvertently morph into the kind of political party it has proclaimed it would not become.

PKR is the perfect example of how a romanticised political party during the late 1990s to early 2000s with seemingly infinite ideals, but has since lost its “reformasi” lustre.

Truth be told, PKR’s founding ideals are not too dissimilar from Muda, wherein the former’s aspiration for democratic participation and progressive politics are even enshrined in the party’s constitution.

Yet so many things have happened since those heady “reformasi” days and equally many have also been disappointed by PKR to the point that we now are more likely to witness institutional reform spearheaded by progressives in Umno rather than PKR.

Muda would do well to learn from PKR the importance of delivering its slogans with actual policy commitments and less leader idolising, or circling its struggles and ideals around a leader whose political beliefs are dependent on his own political interests rather than ideological commitment.

There is also a new party in town that arguably has firmer policy commitments than the rest, even Muda.

What started out as a satirical portrayal of PAS, Parti Aspirasi Sains (PASS) has since applied to the Registrar of Societies for formal recognition.

As opposed to Muda, PASS’s leadership, which is mostly composed of young people, puts forward comprehensive and elaborate policies, which not even Muda can equal.

Rather than abstract terms like democratic participation, PASS has, on its policy website, committed to local government elections.

Even the most astute economists are divided about the idea of economic justice, but PASS is crystal clear on the matter.

The party’s website touts the idea of inheritance and land hoarding tax.

Having said that, how Muda has annoyed most of the political operatives or fence sitters is less about the things I have mentioned above.

It is more how the inclusion of Muda is disruptive to the natural order of things in the PH camp.

This is most obvious coming from PKR where it views Muda as another party that was partly influenced by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and is trying to dilute PKR’s dominance in the opposition camp.

Truthfully, PKR’s concerns are not unfounded, because Syed Saddiq still shares a good rapport with the former prime minister, while the inclusion of Dian Lee in Muda further entrenches that view, given the close relationship between Dr Mahathir and Lee Kim Yew.

These are all valid questions and need to be constantly asked to hold Muda and Syed Saddiq to account.

Beyond the leader, Muda collectively must also come clean on how Dian has been able to rise through Muda ranks given that she was politically unknown barely a month ago.

However, established political operatives are not focusing on these are the things. Muda was mostly criticised for controversial artwork, for which it has since apologised.

The artwork, which depicts PH and PKR working hand in hand with BN and PN may be false, but it is also a rare occurrence that a political party has publicly admitted its mistakes and apologised.

Nevertheless, judging by the online reaction, you would have thought Muda had committed an unforgivable act of treachery.

It appears that everything Muda does has been under intense scrutiny and mistakes tend to be magnified and harped on to justify excluding it from national politics.

Incidentally, that also perfectly illustrates how our society generally treats those younger than us, a generation with greater zeal and aspirations.

Be it in private or public, those who have long occupied the field tend to view youth participation as a form of intrusion to be treated with much scepticism and disdain.

The older generation would not hesitate to shut them out at any given opportunity.

Therefore, youth with better ideas, at least in our society, are forced to climb a higher mountain or overcome greater barriers merely to have their ideas heard, never mind implemented.

Unfortunately, this is also what is happening to Muda, from my observation. There are many faults within Muda that I have since written about and will continue to write so long as these issues remain unaddressed.

Yet, equally important, I also believe Muda deserves an opportunity to prove itself in the electoral process and criticism should be grounded on policy disagreement rather than putting it off condescendingly.

At the very least, I have seen young people in Muda as young as 18 years old who have been politically empowered and eager to participate in this country’s political process and that must be a positive for this country.

At a time when political parties from left and right appear to be indistinguishable ideologically, we should at least contemplate giving the newly formed Muda, or even PASS, a chance while at the same time constantly demanding them that they must be better than those who came before them. – February 13, 2022.

* 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.