Author: UKEC

As students studying overseas in the UK and Ireland, we are a handful of the lucky ones on track to living life the predetermined ‘good’ way — trying our best to study hard in ‘good’ universities, get ‘good’ grades, and graduate in a field with good ‘career’ prospects. Once all that’s done, we are meant to go on and work in ‘good’ companies, contribute to society in meaningful ways, and start the process all over again with the partner and children that we are supposed to have. With the golden rule in place, life becomes boring with a fixed template; at different points in our lives, we might wonder if there really is more to life than it seems.

“Was British colonialism in Malaysia a good thing?” This was the prompt I was given in Year 8 history when my teacher, despite my fervent and unequivocal presentation answering a firm ‘no’ to this question, continued to encouragingly say, “There were some positive facets as well…” Though my frustration was palpable, my 14-year-old self struggled to fully articulate how harrowing it was to hear someone, a British woman, no less, attempt to silence me and dismiss the trauma of an entire society who continues to struggle in the wake of a post-colonial hangover.

With politics being a topic discouraged within the walls of schools, many would argue that 18-year-olds could not possibly have the capacity to understand the complexity of Malaysian politics. One of the reasons for lowering the voting age is so that the youth’s interests can be represented and for there to be an increase in voter turnout; this is surely one way to ensure democracy in Malaysia is being upheld as citizens exercise their right to vote. But what about the step that precedes voting — forming one’s own political opinions? How is the youth supposed to understand the goals and ambitions of the political campaigns running for the 15th General Election?

Over the past few years, Malaysia has seen a tremendous shift in political power. For the first time since its independence, Malaysia was ruled by an opposing coalition. Two years later, in February 2020, the Perikatan Nasional coalition was formed and led by the eighth Prime Minister, Mahiaddin bin Md. Yasin. A period of political unrest followed the period of COVID-19 outbreak, eventually leading to the dissolution of Parliament on 10 October 2022, paving way for the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15). What does this mean for the nation and the people? Is this a sign of the end of democracy as many would claim? Or the start of a democratic reformation?