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140 Haris Zuan

Table 7.1 Registered voters as of 4th quarter 2017

Age Share of registered voters (%)
21–29 17.0
30–39 23.9
40–59 39.0
60–79 18.0
80 and above 2.0

It should therefore come as no surprise that all political parties gave
particular emphasis to youth issues. Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto o ered 60
promises across four main categories, including a list of ten promises it pledged
to ful l within its rst hundred days in o ce. Issues such as resolving concerns
regarding Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN, National
Higher Education Fund Corporation) student loans were on that list—one of
the main issues galvanising young voters. Pakatan Harapan promised to defer
loan-repayment for graduates earning monthly salaries of less than RM4,000
and to stop blacklisting defaulters.
All in all, Pakatan Harapan tailored ve commitments speci cally for youth
in their manifesto. Earlier, in January 2018, Pakatan Harapan Youth had come
out with Tawaran Anak Muda (O er to Youth), a ten-point platform focused
on rights to decent employment, quality education, lower costs of living,
a ordable housing, and sports and recreation (Tang 2018). e initiative
became sensationalised when PH proposed to air the popular Premier League,
Spanish La Liga, and other sports series on state-owned Radio Television
Malaysia for free, as part of fth core focusing on sports and recreation.
Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional also introduced a youth-speci c manifesto,
called Jaminan Orang Muda (JOM, Youth Guarantee), with themes covering
economic, social, and political issues. PAS-led Gagasan Sejahtera also gave
emphasis to youth issues such as jobs, home ownership, private vehicles, costs
of living, and education. ese manifestos showed the extent to which political
parties on both sides emphasised youth (Table 7.2).
As the most a ected group, youth overall felt Malaysia was heading in the
wrong direction (Chow 2017; Merdeka Center 2017). Although BN managed
to come out with an exclusive manifesto for youth, it was rather late—it was
launched just a month before polling day. e youth unemployment rate in
2017 was over three times higher than the overall unemployment rate, at 10.8
per cent (Dass 2017); that same year youth aged between 25–40 formed the
largest segment among those classi ed as bankrupt (Tong, A. 2018). us, it

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