Voting age should be lowered to 18, says Syed Saddiq

Updated 5 years ago · Published on 6 Jul 2018 8:10AM · 3 Comments

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (left) says youngsters are interested in politics and should be able to participate in the democratic process as teenagers. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, July 6, 2018.

THE voting age or eligibility to vote in Malaysia should be lowered to 18 compared with 21 now, said Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

“My target is it can be done ahead of the 15th general election. But first we have to have a political exposure programme for young people,” he said yesterday.

Syed Saddiq said he would discuss with Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik on how exposure to the democratic process could be applied at the school level.

He said Malaysia should provide political exposure to pupils at the upper secondary level as is done in several other countries.

“In these countries, at the age of 17 or 18, they are eligible to vote and it has been so since the 1960s. So why in Malaysia (some) are of the opinion that young people do not know (are ignorant) and label them as just ‘WeChat’ groups.”

According to him, the youth parliament programme is one of the examples of political exposure that can benefit youngsters and such efforts should be strengthened with the involvement of more teenagers.

He added that efforts would be made to determine the maximum age to join a youth association is limited to 35. – Bernama, July 6, 2018.

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Comments

  • ...... in Malaysia .... its too young ..... they will only follow parents orders ..... even wives were forced to vote according to husbands' wishes ....... ask PAS .... Not many Malaysian youths are mature and independent in their thinking ..... so NO-lah!

    Posted 5 years ago by Malaysian First · Reply

    • Not all Malaysian adults are mature too, as had been demonstrated by Malaysians of all levels in the past, both in public and in social media (let alone privately).

      In other words, age and maturity are not correlated. Thus, Syed Saddiq's recommendation that lower voting age be coupled with political and civics education is the right move to correct this issue, and potentially making the youth more politically mature than the older generation over time.

      Posted 5 years ago by Justin McGarmott · Reply

  • The most valid reason of why 18 year olds should be allowed to vote , is the fact 18 is the entry age for joining the army & police force. When one puts his or her life on the line for the country , one should be able to vote , on who should manage the country.

    Posted 5 years ago by [email protected] · Reply