Change from within must come first, youths told

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar (seen far right) mingling with youths as they register to vote at a booth set up outside the hall

Youths should instill change within themselves first to see a transformation in the country.

That was one of the main messages of the “Youth Leading Change” forum on May 6 at Lakeside Campus.

“It is important for you to change, and change starts from yourself, from here [she points to her head],” TV host, actress and model Wardina Safiyyah said.

Wardina was part of the panelists for the second session of the forum which focused on how youths can be the changers.

Joining her was Adrian Yeo, founder of Malaysia Youth Climate Justice Network, who emphasised the need for youths to be more creative to make a change for better environmental care in the country.

“We cannot just write letters or have discussions [with the authorities]. We need to think and be more creative since we are the youths … [For example] we can paint graffiti,” Yeo said.

Meanwhile, in a session held earlier (which focused on strengthening unity in the country), Eddin Khoo from Pusat Kajian and Dokumentasi Persembahan Tradisional (PUSAKA) stressed that change must come from the political sphere.

“The political sphere must be urged to move on by other independent realms in the sphere: intellectual life, young people, [and] the fourth estate; journalism … which is collapsed in this country, unfortunately,” he explained.

Other panelists for the sessions at the forum included Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai Nurul Izzah Anwar, author and lecturer Dr Maszlee Malik, founder of Asian Youth Ambassador Pr Kenneth Chin, and founder of Youth for Change Lee Khai Loon.

The forum was organized by the Selangor state government as part of its Program Jelajah Belia Selangor (a youth roadshow program).

According to SelangorKini Online, the program’s objective is to inspire youngsters to be involved in activities beneficial to the society and lead change in the country. Awards are also given out during the program to recognise outstanding young activists.

Teresa Kok, Selangor State Senior Executive Councillor for Investment, Industry & Trade, who also attended the event, said programs like this showed that students were free to approach political and controversial figures.

“Maybe we could make more programs where we invite controversial people … [where students can] listen to them and … have a discussion with them to know whether what we read in the newspaper is the truth,” she said.

She further pointed out that such a program was important to encourage critical thinking amongst university students as they listen to important figures putting across their different opinions.

Taylorian Tabitha Ujang agreed and said students need to know what is going on in the country to be able to lead in the future.

(By Nurul Ain Jamaluddin)