Young voice: With youth now a decisive electoral bloc, visibility has followed power. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/ The Star
IN the run-up to the 2024 United States presidential election, I found myself engrossed in former president Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land, which traces his early life, details his first campaigns, and stretches through most of his first term as president.
In the preface, Obama writes that the memoir was written for young people as “an invitation to once again remake the world, and to bring about, through hard work, determination, and a big dose of imagination,” a society that aligns with what is best in us.
Back home, 2025 saw a notably vibrant landscape of youth political leadership in the country. Umno Youth and PAS Youth asserted themselves more forcefully in national debates, openly sparring with Pakatan Harapan’s newly appointed Youth Chief on several issues. PKR, meanwhile, unveiled a new generation of leaders through its Angkatan Muda Keadilan line-up for the 2025–2028 term.
It was also a year in which some young leaders became household names not for outstanding contributions, but by virtue of being loud and abrasive. This has prompted me to ponder as we enter the new year: what truly makes a youth leader, especially in politics?
With youth now a decisive electoral bloc, visibility has followed power. This matters because after the introduction of Undi18 and automatic voter registration, voters aged 18 to 30 accounted for about 30% of all registered voters in the 2022 general election, making young Malaysians a potentially decisive force at the polls.
Since my days writing for The Star’s BRATs young journalist programme, I have had the privilege of learning from many youth leaders in Malaysia and beyond through formal settings and personal interactions. The ones that left lasting impressions on me were rarely the loudest voices in the room, but instead those that listened to us young people attentively and responded with deliberation.
Certain qualities also appeared consistently. Effective youth leaders were able to bridge divides, recognising that disagreement is not a failure of politics but its condition. They demonstrated curiosity rather than combativeness, remaining principled in values yet flexible in method. Crucially, they showed that leadership shines in the less visible work of organising, negotiating and campaigning.
Too often, youth leadership is reduced to age, optics, or volume. My interactions and the Malaysian political scene have shown otherwise. Being young does not automatically confer clarity of thought or moral courage, nor does visibility alone equate to leadership.
In an era shaped by social media, outrage travels faster than ideas, and sharp soundbites often eclipse thoughtful positions. In Malaysia, where about 85% of the population are active social media users and many young people rely primarily on these platforms for news, attention has become a powerful political currency.
Some youth leaders have learned to weaponise this environment, mistaking visibility for influence. Yet such politicking rarely produces durable trust or workable solutions.
As we move further into the new year, I feel it is perhaps worth articulating what a constructive model of youth leadership in Malaysian politics might look like in a practical wish list.
It would begin with leaders who understand Malaysia’s plural reality, and who resist the temptation to mobilise support by sharpening divisions of race, religion, or region. Youth leadership should widen the political imagination, not narrow it. In a country as diverse as ours, persuasion will always matter more than provocation.
It would also mean youth leaders who treat institutions with seriousness rather than contempt. Elections, parliament, state assemblies, local councils, and even party structures may be imperfect, but they remain the arenas through which change is made durable. Youth leaders ought to learn how to work within them and, when necessary, how to reform them.
A Malaysian youth leader should also be comfortable with policy detail, not just posture. Leadership must be grounded in evidence and data, informing positions and policies alike. Whether it is the cost of living, employment prospects, or climate resilience, these are daily realities actively shaping young Malaysians’ lives. On such issues, youth leaders owe their peers homework and coherence.
Equally important is accountability. Youth leadership should not be a training ground for impunity, where excess is excused as passion or inexperience. Words have consequences, especially in a charged political climate. The willingness to correct course, apologise when necessary, and take responsibility should be seen as strength.
Finally, youth leadership in Malaysia should be animated by the imagination of possibility. The courage to ask how our politics might be fairer, more inclusive and effective, and the patience to work towards that vision over time.
Perhaps that is the challenge implicit in Obama’s invitation to remake the world. It is not a call to speak the loudest, but to think carefully about the kind of society we wish to build. For Malaysia’s youth leaders, the challenge is not simply to inherit power earlier, but to wield it more wisely.
That, ultimately, is what makes a youth leader.
Malaysian youth advocate Jonathan Lee Rong Sheng traces his writing roots to The Star’s BRATs programme. The views expressed here are solely the writer’s own.
