As published:
LAST week’s article “Tidak apa attitude rules” (StarEducation, March 14) reminded me of my own political outlook. People get involved in a system only when they believe their actions will make a difference.
My political outlook as a young Malaysian was formed when I was in secondary school. I am a Gen-X/Y child who used to be quite ignorant of politics. I was interested in politics in Form One through Form Three, but after that I stopped following the news because it makes local politics boring.
It wasn’t just the lack of political-philosophical education in schools, but also the media coverage which put me off politics.
Looking on the bright side, it’s better to have apathetic citizens than to have misinformed voters.
When citizens are not politically educated, what results is a class of “leaders” and a
class of “followers”. This isn’t a bad system, mind you, and young people today seem to know it.
Practically speaking, we don’t need a theoretically-pure democracy. Our country is what we have made it to be, and we should be proud of what we have, don’t you think?
I love Malaysia for what it is, simply because I think the system works. I will work with the system to make it better, but that doesn’t mean that everyone should have to bear the burden of civil responsibility.
HWA YANG JERNG
Maine, the United States
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