Malaysian youths as loud as real MPs in Dewan Rakyat debate

Last Saturday, while the morning sun was still stretching over the horizon, over 100 youngsters were making their way to the Parliament for a full day of debating. These were youths aged 16 to 25 from all over Malaysia, who were participating in the Youth Parliamentary Debathon 2023— an event that tackles genuine national issues in a mock parliamentary setting.

Despite the whole thing being a simulation, believe us when we say these guys really went for it. From 9am to 6pm and across 4 different topics, the debators were slamming tables and jumping to their feet, while relentlessly grilling their opponent’s camp. Voices were raised, opinions were heard, and Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living, Fuziah Salleh, who was attending one of the sessions, said she was reminded of a real parliament court.

“I had a truly enjoyable moment watching all of you (debators) and imagining that one day you will actually be in the house. The rowdiness that was projected by the opposition really reminds me of what it’s like in the real chambers,” — Fuziah Salleh, Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living

Well, at this point, you’re probably itching to know what kind of topics got the debators all fired up, and we’ve got you sorted. Here’s a rundown of the day’s events.

Motion 1: Implementing Political Education in Secondary School

The debate kicked off with a timely topic– the recently concluded state elections. In Johor, a survey found that most 18 to 21-year-olds didn’t vote because they didn’t know much about the parties standing for election.

In light of that, the government camp suggested adding political education to the secondary school syllabus so that youngsters would learn the importance of their votes. But it wouldn’t be just simple textbook learning, as the government planned to demonstrate this concept right at school, by setting up an election process for choosing prefects.

But the opposition believed that the country wasn’t ready to implement such a subject, arguing that it was a burden on teachers who lacked proper training. They also mention how unfair it was for students who were already juggling multiple responsibilities. Instead, they suggested expanding the coverage of subjects that already touch on politics, like Sejarah.

It was a double victory for the government, wining both the debate and earning best speaker through Nafiz Azizi. An aspiring lawyer, Nafiz was caught off guard by the intensity of the opponent’s interjections but still found the overall experience enjoyable.

“When a lot of them stood up at once and started asking questions I was quite like– whoa. But we won and I’m relieved, and even happier to have gotten the best speaker award because I genuinely believe in our motion today,” — Nafiz Azizi, law student

Motion 2: Malaysia for Sustainable Forest Management over Zero-Deforestation

The issue here is that Malaysia uses forest land to plant timber and oil palm. Now unfortunately, this has caused a lot of damage to the environment in the long run.

But because these are important exports of the country, the government preferred sustainable forest management over a complete zero-deforestation approach. Their main concern was that a blanket ban on all logging activities (zero-deforestation), would simply push it into black market territory. So to avoid that, they proposed a scheme that would strictly regulate logging activities and enforce replantation.

The opposition argued that deforestation was the main cause of landslides and floods. Not only were lives at stake, but it was costing the country billions of ringgit to manage. And with that, they suggested a 1 year grace period before all logging activities were to be stopped completely.

While the victory went to the opposition for this round, it was really Teresa Kok, the guest MP from Seputeh who had the last word.

She gave the audience a thorough explanation of the land use in Malaysia and even humorously pointed out the mistakes in both the government and opposition’s arguments.

“The opposition talked about landslide, but landslide happens not because of deforestation only. It can happen from sudden rainfall, there’s overdevelopment, you can also talk about the draining infrastructure… this kerajaan ah, why didn’t mention this,”– Teresa Kok, MP Seputeh

Motion 3: Climate Change Act

The Climate Change Act was first brought up in 2009 but was never really implemented to this day. But considering how the weather has taken a serious turn for the worse lately, even leading to several deaths from heatwaves, the government was ready to declare a climate crisis, along with the enactment of the Climate Change Act.

The opposition camp argued that declaring a crisis was taking things too far. Not only would it cause worry among the public, but foreign investors might even reconsider investing in the country. They also pointed out that Malaysia’s greenhouse gas emissions were already relatively low, so it seemed unnecessary to enact a law that would make little difference.

But the government was firm on immediate action. Through the act, they planned to establish a carbon budget, in which companies would be assigned specific caps on their greenhouse gas emissions. They would also introduce something called the climate change risk assessment, where companies were required to report their greenhouse gas production every 5 years.

The government won this one, but perhaps the star of this debate were the many pantuns that filled the entire session. The speaker was most amused, but we’ll let you be the judge of the debators’ poetic skills.

“Roh roh roh

Neh neh neh

Buang yang keruh-keruh

Ambil yang jernih,”

— Ameer Hazim, opposition 1st speaker

“Tik tik tik

Je je je

Biar pembangkang berpolitik

Kami kerajaan nak berkerja,”

— Nafiz Azizi, government backbencher

“Nang nang nang

Do do do

Kita bertenang

Jangan kita gaduh ya,”

— Muhammad Alif, opposition 3rd speaker

Motion 4: The Rising Cost of Living in Malaysia

Malaysians are no strangers to rising prices, and despite the economy improving in recent months, many still struggle to make ends meet. With that in mind, the government proposed raising the minimum wage to ease the financial burden among lower income earners. They intended to adopt a progressive wage policy, where the employee would be rewarded based on their productivity.

Now the opposition camp believed that simply increasing the minimum wage wouldn’t tackle the core issue of rising costs of living, rather it would do the opposite. Instead, they suggested other methods, such as upskilling the workforce, enforcing targeted subsidies, and increasing taxes on the rich. Mohamed Adam, who ultimately earned the title of best speaker, highlighted the Rahmah initiative as prime example of effective targeted subsidies.

“Jualan Rahmah sells goods at 30% lower compared to market price. And this is one of the best short term solutions we can employ to help the rakyat ease their burdens.” — Mohamed Adam, best speaker from opposition bench

The last debate of the day was won by the opposition, but as it so happened, the government side featured the youngest participant of the entire debathon, Lisa Amanda. At just 16, Lisa showed a lot of steel when at one point, she faced multiple interruptions from her opponents.

“I was feeling a little bit clueless, but I wanted to just continue on with my speech. There was only about 20 seconds left and I didn’t want to sound like I wasn’t open to questions, so I decided to open one to the floor, but then all of them decided to ask,” — Lisa Amanda, school student

The best speakers received a trophy and a subscription to Malaysiakini

Amidst all the talent and passion in the Dewan Rakyat that day, there were 4 who really stood out. Nafiz Aziz, Benteny Ooi, Muhammad Haikal and Mohamed Adam were all awarded the title of best speaker in each of their sessions and were given a trophy made of Balau wood and a lifetime subscription to Malaysiakini.

Co-hosted by KiniEvents and Malaysiakini, this event not only marks the third year of the Youth Parliamentary Debathon– the first and second installments being in 2019 and 2022 respectively– but also celebrates the debut of GenZ@ThePodium, which was addressed in the 4th motion. The event was also supported by both the Parliament of Malaysia and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.