Back in the late 1990s, Malaysia had the Reformasi generation who marched on the streets to protest and these people are among the young lawmakers in the opposition pact (never mind if it’s Pakatan Harapan or Pakatan Rakyat) that we have today.

Today, after the 12th and 13th general elections, there are more and more youngsters who have expressed their interest in politics. Despite the increasing gusto urging change among the younger Malaysians, where are we actually heading to? We, the younger Malaysians or Ubah generation have our say.

Yes. We, the Ubah generation wants change but what type of change? Change of government! But why change? Because we hate the mess we are in right now. Think it over again! True change is definitely not about changing the people who administers the country should our mindset remain the same. Often we blame the government for the mess, but we neglect mistakes of our own. The leaders we choose reflect who we are.

Look at us, many students and graduates are taking or have taken the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loan to finance their tertiary education (including myself). Put aside the issue on whether PTPTN should exist, just focus on people’s mentality. How many of us have the plans to pay back?

While it is understood that the rising cost of living makes the monthly salary of fresh graduates insufficient to sustain a comfortable living while simultaneously paying back their loans. What about those who are doing business and earning several thousand per month and can afford overseas trip? Most of the youngsters espouse the thinking that it’s the taxpayers’ money; therefore, there is no need to pay back the loan.

Doesn’t that signify that something is very wrong with our mentality? Racism does not only prevail among the Malays or the ruling coalition, it exists among us all without us realising it. Malays look at non-bumiputras as pendatang and the Chinese perceive the Malays as racists.

Many urban Chinese pledge their support to DAP. More often than not, they see DAP as a party that champions the rights of the Chinese community instead of seeing it as a party that fights for unity and equality. To the best of my knowledge, DAP is a multi-racial party, a party for ALL Malaysians albeit the fact that it has more Chinese members.

Besides that, there are some Malaysian Chinese who cheered when there was speculation that China will be issuing some sort of privilege cards to overseas Chinese. It sure seems like ‘Chinese nationalism’ too prevails among the Chinese community. Shocking? Not so.

See, our mentality problem doesn’t stop here. Recently, the MP of Bukit Mertajam wrote a piece regarding the Journey to the West. Certain people think that he, YB Steven Sim isn’t qualified to comment just because he isn’t a Buddhist. However, I am sure that there are many who laughed at the Bomoh King when he performed the ritual to search for MH370 (although it didn’t succeed).

Defending a myth, not a fact

We sprung to the defense when a person of another faith comments on our religion or beliefs (Monkey God is just a myth, it isn’t even real), but we ourselves laughed at others. Perhaps our Malay and Indian or even Chinese Christian friends out there could laugh at us now because we are defending a myth, not a fact.

Now look at our leaders again. We want change because we despise BN, but then again, do you realise that some opposition leaders who behave likewise? We, the people are hoping for unity, but there are still some infamous politicians out there playing the racial cards.

Why despise Perkasa and Isma? Why hate the ruling coalition for its racist remarks when you also support politicians in the opposition that plays the racial cards? Ah. Never mind that, we Malaysians always have double-standard for everything.

If you are a Chinese and a supporter of DAP who thinks that your favourite party can survive by securing only Chinese votes, then you’re absolutely wrong. Why is it so? Because most of the Chinese parents (including mine) tell their children to leave the country and never come back again. This will eventually cause a drop in Chinese population, how can DAP survive by depending only on the Chinese votes?

Hence, the party has to woo voters of other races and get their support.

However, certain politicians still hold strong to the ‘kecinaan’ in themselves with most of their posts in Chinese. Excuse me, this is Malaysia, not China or Hong Kong. Please post it in a common language that everyone is able to comprehend (or maybe multi-lingual). Besides that, thank you for radicalising the young Chinese to hate BN with your entertaining speeches.

Instead of uniting the youths, you are splitting society further. While radicalising the Chinese youths isn’t enough, you went on to openly attack and harass a person who has dissenting views from yours.

Is this the type of leaders that we want? Dear Ubah generation, what is ‘change’ again? There is no point to put new faces into the administration of the state if everything else remains the same. It’s just going to be old wine in a new bottle. Do you see my point now? The problem does not only lie within the government, but us.

So chuck behind your old mentality and vote for someone who can propel the country towards a better future, and not one that divide us further. Never ever allow such scoundrels to harm the harmony in our country. Change, we can!