How will youth voters in Malaysia’s richest state impact the upcoming elections?

On 12 August, Malaysians will head to the polls to vote for their state assembly representatives in six states, namely Selangor, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, and Negeri Sembilan.

At the heart of the electoral revolution in Selangor lies a generation of young individuals who are no longer content with sitting on the sidelines.

Unlike previous elections, where youth voter turnout was comparatively low, recent trends suggest a seismic shift in their engagement with the democratic process.

This shift, particularly evident after the 15th General Election (GE15), owes much to the advent of Undi18. Instituted in 2019, Undi18 marked a constitutional milestone by lowering the voting age to include individuals as young as 18 years old, rendering them eligible to vote.

During GE15, the presence of Undi18 voters was remarkable, boasting an estimated turnout rate of 79 per cent, mirroring that of their counterparts in their 50s, as disclosed by a survey conducted by political analyst Bridget Welsh.

To contextualise this achievement, the Undi18 demographic emerged as one of the most active participants in last year's general election.

As Selangor braces for its state elections, the spotlight falls on the young electorate once again.

Selangor, heralded as Malaysia's wealthiest and most industrialised state, also lays claim to a substantial number of young voters. This demographic cohort is poised to wield significant influence in determining the state's political trajectory over the forthcoming years.

The impending polls will see 56 seats in the state assembly up for contention, with a simple majority of 29 seats needed to secure governance.

Given Selangor's status as a stronghold for the PH (Pakatan Harapan) coalition since 2008, a formidable struggle is anticipated between the reigning federal government — comprising the three-party alliance of PKR, DAP, and Barisan Nasional — and the Perikatan Nasional alliance (consisting of PAS and Bersatu).

Notably, PAS clinched 49 seats during GE15, solidifying its status as a robust contender.

What do young Selangorians have to say about the upcoming elections?

“I'm quite nervous but excited about the upcoming state elections. It's my first time voting for my DUN so it's exciting to see how it's slightly different when we assess who we want to vote for on a state level,” said Khoo, a 26-year-old who will vote for the Bandar Baru Klang seat.

Khoo told Yahoo Southeast Asia that she will be voting for Pakatan Harapan, although she said based on her observations on social media, she could see that both parties have been helping the community.

“People say vote the party at the federal level, and vote the candidate at the state level, but I do think it is important that we look at party/coalition when voting because that ultimately forms our state government which also affects the political climate as a whole.”

“Also, I do not trust PN to govern effectively while PH still has proven track records,” she said.

Khoo remains cautiously hopeful for a positive outcome, attempting to maintain an optimistic outlook.

“But honestly things are quite a mess. Some parties have been overconfident but lost their federal seats, some are doing major Tiktok marketing and infiltrating young voters' minds in hopes to get them to vote for them,” she said.

Furthermore, she said the decision at the ballot box is not always about choosing the best candidate, but rather about selecting the lesser of multiple perceived evils.

Meanwhile, a 23-year-old voter, who wants to be known as just ‘Mr. R’, said he is considering voting for PN.

He cited reservations about the so-called liberal movement, which he feels seems too focused on supporting PH, which could reflect in their policies if they gain enough votes.

“As someone who values traditional principles, PN appears to be the better option at the moment, considering BN's history of corruption.”

“However, it's essential to clarify that my decision has nothing to do with race; I study abroad and have many Chinese and Indian friends whom I hold no biases against. The prevailing sentiment now is that PH is seen as hypocritical and divergent from traditional values,” he said.

“I still have faith in democracy; it remains one of the best systems available today. However, I find both main coalitions a bit disappointing, and it feels like we're currently choosing the lesser of two evils (depending on one's perspective),” he added.

Muhammad Azry, 26, told Yahoo that he will be voting for Muda, which is led by former Youth and Sports Minister, Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, “even though Anwar’s government has done a lot of good”.

“Especially [Minister for Economic Affairs] Rafizi [Ramli], who I think has contributed more to this government than the entire cabinet combined,” he said.

Muhammad Azry blames the decision on reforms that PH promised but hasn’t followed through on yet, like abolishing draconian laws like the Sedition Act and the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012.

“I hope that my voting for Muda would be a wake-up call for the Madani government to stop trying to appease the conservative votes and start implementing these policies,” he said.

However, one young voter is on the fence about the upcoming polls.

Sarah, 26, a voter in Kota Kemuning told Yahoo that it is unclear who she will vote on Saturday, despite claiming that she is still biased towards PH.

“The reason why it still remains unclear is because by now we can see there is little to no progress in the issues being tackled by the PH elected leaders.”

“For example, I am in healthcare, and seeing Dr Zaliha [Mustafa] doing more damage than good while she governs the Health Ministry is frustrating to me, so I could see why the majority would shift from PH to PN.”

“I would like to give PH a chance to govern, but at the same time it is a pity that they can't show much progress in many issues that they promise to tackle hence it does not feel that we make much difference to who we elected from the last election.”

Will we see another 'green wave' by youth voters in Malaysia?

During the last general election, an occurrence famously referred to as the "green wave", symbolising backing for PN, drew the focus of analysts and political pundits.

Clearly, PN's surge owed much of its drive to the younger electorate, notably among Malays, who were in search of an alternative to Umno. This shift played a substantial role in molding the political terrain.

Despite the minor discrepancy in youth votes between PH and PN in the context of GE15, it was PN's adeptness in swaying the allegiance of young voters that unquestionably sparked interest.

“After the elections, one of the views was that the youth was influenced by social media, specifically TikTok. I think another reason that was not adequately addressed was one underlying factor: the education system,” political analyst Professor Tunku Mohar, from the International Islamic University of Malaysia, told Yahoo.

“Since the 1990s, the national school has been ethnicised in the sense that it became strongly Malay and Islam. Fearing “Islamisation,” Chinese Malaysian parents began to send their children to National-type (Chinese) schools,” he said.

“For the Malay parents, another trend was sending their children to Islamic religious schools,” he said.

Since then, he added that there were few meaningful interactions among young children of different ethnic groups.

With the exception of a few urban national schools, the other national schools became increasingly Malay/Islamic.

“It is this generation that can be easily influenced by false narratives of non-Malays controlling the country. PAS, on the other hand, equated itself as the authentic Islamic organisation and gullible youth accepted this idea,” Prof Tunku Mohar said.

He said while Selangor is a microcosm of Malaysia, the electorate is more urbane than other states.

“There are constituencies in its northern region with overwhelming Malay majority voters, and these are where PN is gaining traction. In constituencies with more than two-thirds Malay majority, PN stands a good chance.”

“However, cooperation between PH and BN/UMNO seems to be genuine where the grassroots seem to be more accepting to the new reality of this inter-coalition cooperation.”

Prof Tunku Mohar said the younger voters who are better educated can now gauge the performance of the state and federal governments.

He added that while support would still be divided, it seems that the young voters in Selangor are supportive of the state government.

“The support towards PN may not be enough for it to topple the current ruling coalition.”

“As a general rule, the urban and semi-urban voters are more likely to vote for PH, while the rural young voters would support PN.”

“The more educated and those in the higher and lower income group would be supportive of PH, while the middle income is divided and could be more likely to vote PN. The middle-income group is typically critical of the authority,” Prof Tunku Mohar said.

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