Amid murmurs that youths should abstain from voting or spoil their votes in the upcoming general election, panellists at two separate forums have urged them to do something about it instead.

At a forum titled "Dear Political Dinosaurs, Why You Still Around?" in Petaling Jaya on Saturday, activist and former lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri (photo) said she respects such decisions but stressed that there needs to be a conversation to find a way out of the feeling of disillusionment.

She said that voting is not the only way to have a voice or to effect change, and believing otherwise would degrade a person’s humanity down to the act of voting.

“I respect that position (of abstention), but we have to talk about it. We have to find a way out. We can’t just criticise people for thinking about it - this is what politicians do - we should start thinking about what we should do to get out of it.

“(We need) to really start having a new imagination about how we all, as a society, can move forward without depending on the system, the structure, that keeps failing us. That conversation has to happen,” she said.

Meanwhile, at the “What Say Youth” forum in Subang Jaya last night, Subang Jaya assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh described the movement as “unhelpful” and the last thing that Malaysia needs.

“I think such voices urging people 'don’t go out, don’t bother' is the worst kind of movement that Malaysians need at this point of time. We are still in need of a lot of good people to enter and change the system. I think something like that is not helpful,” she said.

Relating her own experience in joining politics in the run-up to the 12th general election in 2008, when she unexpectedly won her seat, she said people should not wait until conditions are right before taking action to effect change.

“I am a firm believer that you don’t have to wait for an entire system to change; that one person, one woman, one man, one boy, one girl, can actually make a difference. […] If we (have) more people like that, who would just do that small thing, then I think things can change.

“If you start sitting down and calculate what are the chances of us changing the government, what are the chances of us changing policies, changing everything about Malaysia, you will never start. Why? Because even before you start, if you calculate and you know the system is against you, you will not start working. You will not even begin the battle.

“So don’t calculate that far, don’t think that far, do what you can in your own space because that space will actually have a ripple effect,” Yeoh (photo) said.

On Dec 5, The Malaysian Insight reported that a spoil-your-vote campaign is ongoing in Chinese social media circles, due to disenchantment with both BN and Pakatan Harapan.

The report specifically named three Facebook pages advocating the spoiling of votes, each of which had several hundred followers.

It also quoted political analyst Phoon Wing Keong (photo) as saying that although the movement’s supporters are small in number, it could spread to other sections of the Chinese-speaking community.

Another analyst was quoted saying that between 10 to 15 percent of the Chinese electorate are likely to spoil their votes.

A Malay Mail Online report on Sept 23, meanwhile, highlighted middle-class youths who have decided to abstain from voting or from registering to vote.

The report quoted pollster Ibrahim Suffian, who is a director at Merdeka Centre, predicting a drop of between five to eight percent in turnout.

However, PKR vice-president Mohd Rafizi Ramli (photo) said people will still come out and vote because they feel there is enough at stake.

“The fear that people will abstain because of supposedly being disgruntled or disillusioned is not true, and that has been established month by month, survey after survey.

“I have no worry whatsoever that whatever people in here feel, whatever your sense of hopelessness... you do not represent the rest of the country. The rest of the country feels that there is enough at stake that they will come out and vote.

“In fact, over the last 12 months, the indicative turnout is more or less the same as the last general election,” he said at last night’s forum.

The turnout at the 13th general election in 2013 was 11,257,147, or 84.84 percent of registered voters.

Meanwhile, at Saturday’s forum, former lecturer Teo Lee Ken (photo) said it is still premature to think about whether one should vote or not, or spoil their votes.

"One week is a long time in politics, I think it's better we keep our minds open.

"We should go out and mobilise again and encourage everyone (not to focus on) only political leaders or figures but on a political narrative. If there's enough of us who do that, it will change the political landscape,” he said.