In Malaysia, young people have found their voice in the pandemic | Coronavirus pandemic news

At the end of June, while Malaysians were struggling to cope with the rapidly deteriorating epidemic, photos of black flags and people waving black flags from cars or homes appeared on social media.

The hashtag #lawan, which means “fight” in Malay, has become a slogan against the government’s failure to deal with the coronavirus. In a series of basically peaceful protests in July, dissatisfaction spread to the streets.

By then, the number of deaths from COVID-19 had reached a new peak, with more than 20,000 new infections and 200 deaths every day, and protesters demanded the resignation of then Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Throughout the protest, at least 47 participants were investigated by the police.

The Black Flag Movement was initiated by a loose coalition of about 40 youth radical organizations calling themselves Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR). The coalition first came together in March to protest the postponement of reducing the voting age from 21 to 18. plan. Passed in Parliament in July 2019.

Political analyst Bridget Welsh told Al Jazeera that the government’s delay in implementing the legislation was a catalyst for many young people’s dissatisfaction.

Other factors include the high unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 30-almost twice the national average-stagnant wages, unaffordable housing, and the lack of any real social safety net during the pandemic.

Dressed in black, young Malaysians took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur on July 31 calling for the resignation of then Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who had gotten the top job after a power grab within the ruling coalition that was elected in May 2018. He resigned the next month [File: FL Wong/AP Photo]

Since the 2018 general election, the political turmoil in Malaysia has exacerbated all this. Since February last year, this has led to two government changes and the devastation caused by the pandemic.

“Some young people have lost their families. I know someone who lost his grandparents, grandfathers, uncles and aunts within a week,” said Qyira Yusri, 27-year-old co-founder of Undi18, a leader of the NGO Campaign to lower the voting age. “They just looked at our government and wanted to know what happened.”

Although Malaysia has responded relatively well to the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic – even after bringing Muhyiddin to strength -The situation gets out of control after a period of time Fast election September 2020 in Sabah, Borneo.

In January of this year, as politicians in his fragile coalition continued to fight for power and the coronavirus cases surged, Muhyiddin announced State of emergency And suspend parliament. Then came the extended lock-up period.

Most parts of Malaysia are turning to social media, and when the older generation is more susceptible to COVID-19, young people find themselves being pushed to the front lines of political activism.

Wales describes the movement as primarily an urban movement, but aims to achieve inclusiveness by bridging geographical, class and ethnic divides.

Muhyiddin resigned as prime minister a few days after the Soviet Socialist Republic protested on July 31, which was attended by as many as 1,000 people.

“Although I can’t say with certainty that the protests had an impact, it is important that it provides a way for people to express their dissatisfaction,” Qyira told Al Jazeera.

Since then, UMNO’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been appointed to the top position. UMNO is a scandal-polluted party that dominates the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, which has ruled Malaysia for decades and was vetoed in 2018. . Like Muhyiddin’s government, Ismail Sabri’s government is not elected.

Cultivate new young leaders

The pandemic and the problems it caused have pushed youth activism out of voting.

Youth groups are now campaigning for a range of reasons — from refugee rights to climate change and legalizing suicide — to break down legislation and policies into forms that are easier to understand and share, and share them on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter .

Young Malaysians protested against the suspension of parliament during the coronavirus pandemic and defended the right to freedom of speech and assembly [File: Ahmad Yusni/EPA]

But their activities have also attracted the attention of the Malaysian authorities.

Two days before the July 31 protests, the youth organization MISI: Sarah Irdina, the 20-year-old founder of Solidariti, was arrested on suspicion of inciting a rebellion and detained by the police overnight, allegedly Because of the upcoming protests on Twitter.

The participants of the early July protests were also investigated before, so SSR is ready.

It uses crowdfunding to repay fines and cooperates with the Young Lawyers Movement (YLM) to ensure that participants can get free legal representation whenever they need it. YLM itself advocates a minimum wage for legal interns and a more effective mechanism to deal with complaints of sexual harassment in the industry.

Nevertheless, when young people in Myanmar, Thailand, and Hong Kong took to the streets to demand institutional reforms, analysts said that young people in Malaysia adopted a less confrontational approach.

“Their main goal is to provide a platform for young people to make Malaysia a more inclusive place for them politically,” BowerGroup Asia analyst Darryl Tan told Al Jazeera. “They believe that if you give young people a political platform to express their views, you will also have other types of conversations.”

Undi18 recently announced a new program called UndiNegaraku, which aims to train 10,000 young leaders across the country when the next general election is held in 2023.

Last year, it organized Parlimen Digital, a mock online conference in which young people acted as 222 parliamentarians to show that after the suspension of the physical conference, the conference can actually continue during the pandemic. For this reason, according to reports, some of the participants were also summoned for police questioning.

Undi18 also coordinated a number of policy initiatives jointly managed by approximately 200 volunteers, ranging from protecting the environment to getting more women into parliament. “When you want to promote a cause, you have to pay close attention to issues, certain legislation and reforms,” ​​Qyira said.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused more than 25,000 deaths in Malaysia, stimulating young people’s interest in reforming Malaysia and participating in politics [File: Ahmad Yusni/EPA]

She wants to provide a platform for young people to give priority to understanding the issues they want to advocate as a starting point, rather than following any political ideological line.

But this does not mean avoiding politics.

Qyira pointed out that Undi18 alumni continue to join different political parties, from Umno to Anwar Ibrahim’s Keadilan and MUDA (Malaysian United Democratic Alliance)-a new youth-centered party composed of 28-year-old member Syed Co-founded by Saddiq. Parliament and former Minister of Youth and Sports.

“We want them to have equal access to the political parties there without being improperly influenced by any political party,” Qyira said.

Some Undi18 alumni continue to build their own radical organizations.

19-year-old college students Rifqi Faisal and Izanna Azuddin founded the MYER movement in April, calling for educational reforms-especially urgent in this pandemic, because many students lack the resources for online learning.

The two activists said that they saw the whole family share only one device to take turns in class, and the government’s promise of providing thousands of laptops to poor students has not been fulfilled. They also pointed out that there is a lack of mental health counseling for students studying in isolation at home, and neglect of rural students and students with learning disabilities.

“I think our government treats our education as a one-size-fits-all system,” Izana said.

Other young Malaysians are also making their voices heard in other ways. Junior contract doctors, who account for the majority of medical workers dealing with COVID-19, Went on strike In July, as part of their struggle for greater job security.

Malaysian teenager Ain Husniza (right) and her parents.This 17-year-old girl started a campaign against school sexual harassment after her teacher joked about rape. She was questioned by the police in August [File: Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]

A 17-year-old student, Ain Husniza, is trying to protect the school from sexual harassment after one of her teachers made a rape joke in class. Heidi Quah, a refugee activist in his 20s, is challenging the constitutional validity of a law that has been widely used to make “offensive” comments after being accused of abusing refugees in detention centers in a Facebook post Concluded as a criminal offence.

“Obviously, some people are very opposed to the idea of ​​young people speaking out. This is the whole top-down culture, especially in Malaysia. You have to respect the elders, and the elderly don’t really respect the young,” said Yizana.

Therefore, young people have to ask to hear their voices. “The proliferation of youth organizations in the past year has created a huge space for young people to start working on issues that they care about,” Rivch said.

New activism and politics

Wales describes neo-radicalism as a grassroots movement.

“Young people do support young leaders like Syed Saddiq and MUDA, but there is no direct participation or leadership by political leaders,” Wales said.

Former champion debater Said, interim chairman of MUDA, played a role in submitting the Undi18 bill to Parliament. Legislators’ attention When it was first proposed. But he himself is not part of the SSR movement.

MUDA also promises a new future: avoiding race-based politics that has long dominated Malaysian discourse and focusing on the potential of youth leadership.

Amira Aisya, 25, one of the 13 co-founders of the party, told Al Jazeera that the diversity of the MUDA Central Executive Committee is proof-not only in terms of race, but also in education and occupation. aspect. It includes Doctor Thanussha Francis Xavier; Dr. Lin Weijie, a lawyer; and Shahrizal Denci, a farmer. Amila herself once worked in an educational think tank.

Amira also emphasized the goal of MUDA, which is to put young people on an equal footing with adults. Teenagers can join from the age of 15. “Unlike other parties, we do not have a separate youth or female wing. If you have the ability to be part of the MUDA leadership, you will be,” she said.

With the development of the youth movement, Qyira feels that political parties from all walks of life are paying close attention to the speech and feelings of young people.

Junior doctors also resigned in July, demanding fairer treatment. The placard says “I am a contract doctor” [AP Photo]

The court has ordered the government to implement a new minimum voting age before December 31, which may mean that there will be 7.8 million new voters in the next general election.

The government said on Monday that it will implement the directive.

“I think young people are becoming more and more cynical about parties and politicians, but we are still able to articulate our policy vision,” Qyira said. “We will hold politicians accountable to them.”