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Youth in the Politics of Transition in Malaysia 143

(former Kesatuan chairperson), and Shazni Munir (former chairperson of
Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia). Liga Pemuda endorsed six of its members
who ran for elections at the state level. All contested on the Pakatan Harapan
ticket. All agreed to uphold the Declaration of Malaysian Youth 2017. In
return, Liga Pemuda organised a coordinated campaign for the candidates,
including crowd-funding e orts, setting up online campaigns, and assigning
their members to run on-the-ground campaigns for the candidates. Four of
them won.
Another noteworthy group was Malaysia Muda (Young Malaysia), which
formed in 2017 after organising the 71st commemoration of Angkatan Pemuda
Insaf (API, Aware Youth Corps), the youth wing of the rst Malay political
party, Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM, Malay Nationalist
Party). Unlike API, Malaysia Muda consisted not only of Malay members, but
also Chinese and Indian. Malaysia Muda aimed to promote counter-narratives
to dominant discourses on issues related to society, politics, religion, and
ethnic relations. ey claimed not to be associated with any political party and
were seemingly very critical of both BN and PH. ey even criticised Pakatan
for appointing former UMNO Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad—whom
they considered as authoritarian when he was in power previously—to lead
the coalition.
However, during the campaign period, Malaysia Muda took a clear stand
and campaigned for change, despite maintaining that they were not a liated
with or supportive of any political party. roughout the two weeks of the
campaign period, Malaysia Muda ‘staged’ street-theatre performances all over
peninsular Malaysia, starting from Bentong in Pahang; then returning to
Kuala Lumpur, to Lembah Pantai; then going to the east coast, to Dungun,
Kuantan; then heading to the southern states of Malacca and Johor (Muar,
Simpang Renggam, Paloh); then travelling back to Selangor (Semenyih, Paya
Besar) before nishing in the northern states of Penang (Permatang Pasir) and
Kedah (Alor Setar). ese performances were staged ad hoc in the midst of
ceramah, provoking the crowd on the goods and services tax (GST), rising cost
of living, student loans, and other issues Pakatan stressed. Other than Pakatan
ceramah, they also went to those of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM, Malaysian
Socialist Party). ese street theatre performances garnered attention not just
on the ground, but also in the media (Nadia Azam 2018).
Borneo Komrad, a Sabah-based youth group that advocates on stateless
children and education issues, likewise declined to endorse any candidates, to
remain nonpartisan. However, during the campaign period, the group helped
to provide critical analysis of the incumbent government’s performance to help

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