Politician Joshua Woo Sze Zeng is on a mission to encourage youth participation in politics in Malaysia.
The 44-year-old Pulau Tikus assemblyman from Penang DAP believes that to attract young people, politics must be perceived as a constructive and effective process that inspires hope, rather than one dominated by conflict and bickering.
“Youths will engage when politics is both accessible and credible. Our task, as politicians, is to open those doors for them.
“Young people must be empowered with opportunities, exposure and training so that they can understand politics and grow into political leadership,” he told Bernama.
Hailing from Bukit Mertajam in Penang, Woo’s own entry into politics was unplanned and came at the encouragement of his schoolmate Steven Sim Chee Keong, who is now the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister and MP for Bukit Mertajam.
“I did not come from a political background. None of my family members nor relatives were active in politics,” Woo said, adding that he has no regrets about his decision in 2015 to enter politics full-time.
Woo stressed the need for youths to be concerned about politics because it would decide many issues that concerned them, such as education and jobs, and their future in Malaysia.
“They tend to view such issues as personal concerns and don’t immediately connect them to politics.
“Once youths realise that these concerns are political at their core, apathy will give way to engagement.”
He said political awareness would give youths the power to shape the future they want, “but if they stay disengaged (from politics), others will make those decisions for them,” he pointed out.
However, drawing on his own political journey, he noted that youths were not indifferent to politics, but were simply discovering how their personal concerns connected to political roots.
When growing up, he never planned to be involved in politics.
After securing a diploma in business studies at the age of 20, he moved to Hong Kong and later Singapore to work in the hospitality sector before transitioning into sales and marketing.
His first real involvement in politics happened around 2007 to 2008 while he was still working in Singapore, when his schoolmate Sim enlisted him to be a volunteer for DAP.
In 2015, Sim reached out to Woo with an offer to serve as his special officer. (Sim was elected Bukit Mertajam MP in 2013.)
“It wasn’t an easy decision as I was still working in Singapore then. I was worried that if I accepted the offer, I would be like a fish out of water,” said Woo.
He eventually said “yes” to the offer.
“So at the age of 33, I relocated to Penang, and seriously started learning about politics.”
Woo’s political journey got off the ground with his appointment as a councillor at the Seberang Perai Municipal Council in 2016.
After serving for two years, and following the 14th general election in 2018, Woo – who also has a master’s degree in Sustainable Development from Sunway University, as well as a master’s in Communication from Universiti Sains Malaysia – worked at the DAP headquarters’ communications section.
By 2022, he was heading the corporate communications department of Penang Infrastructure Corporation, a state government-linked company. He was also seconded as a special officer to Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Zairil Khir Johari.
The same year, Woo was asked by a senior party leader whether he was ready to be a candidate in the next state election.
“I told the leader, point blank, that I preferred to do work in the background,” he said.
The party leader then replied that it was only logical for Woo to step up if he wanted to fight for a better Malaysia.
“What the leader said stayed with me, so I decided to take the plunge in 2023, when I was asked to stand as a candidate in the Pulau Tikus constituency in the Penang state election.
“Winning the seat made me anxious; being an elected representative was really new and uncharted territory for me,” said Woo, who was born in Pulau Tikus.
He set two goals for himself: to do his best to solve all “solvable problems” in his constituency; and to go all out to provide as many opportunities as possible to youths through internship programmes and career development pathways.
Woo said the state government also established the Penang Youth Committee in April 2022 in each state constituency to engage young people in planning and organising various community activities.
“We recently concluded a pickleball coaching programme. Prior to that, we held a retreat and leadership development training for our committee members.
“Next, we’ll be organising a coffee-making workshop, a board game session and a volunteer initiative at an orphanage,” he added.
Woo also has some advice for youths wishing to be involved in politics.
“Enter politics to serve, not just to succeed. Stay true to your values, but be open to your own inadequacy. Be willing to keep learning.
“This will help you become the kind of leader Malaysia needs,” he said.
