Election 2013: Are Malaysia’s youth prepared to take history’s call?
It gives a sense that not all of the more than 2.5 million new voters in 2013 are singing from the same songsheet. Not all young voters are confident or convinced that the change is right.
Rob O’Brien, Asian Correspondent
In the closest election in its history, Malaysians are standing at a giant crossroads, with just an ‘X’ between themselves and a new direction.
But not everyone is feeling history’s calling.
Among the young voters I’ve talked to in the southernmost state of Johor, there is a groundswell of support for Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the People’s Alliance. The rallies that have been held this week have rocked this Barisan Nasional (BN, National Front) stronghold to its core. There is a strong sense of intent, but a level of caution, too.
Believe it or not there are those who are taking no part in Sunday’s election at all. I spoke to a young student from Malaysia’s University of Technology (UTM) yesterday, who was gutted that she failed to enrol.
Lee Chuan Hau, 24, and another UTM student says he will be sticking with Prime Minister Najib’s BN coalition even though most of his friends are about to back the Opposition. About “three or four out of ten” of his peers will stick with BN, he says.
Read more at: http://asiancorrespondent.com/107172/election-2013-are-malaysias-youth-prepared-to-take-historys-call/
