Kuala Lumpur, 5 February 2018 – Delivering the keynote address at a youth summit here yesterday, IDEAS President Tunku Zain al-’Abidin ibni Tuanku Muhriz emphasised the importance of viewing democracy as a constant, ongoing process. “Democracy is more than just voting once every five years. It is about always seeking to uphold the Federal Constitution and living according to the Rukun Negara.”
Tunku Zain highlighted the most pressing challenges faced by today’s generation – deep divisions on how Malaysia should move forward, and the echo chambers created by the proliferation of social media and fake news. In response to these challenges, Tunku Zain emphasised on the need to always keep in mind of our democratic values and the lessons learnt from our history. He mentioned that “while a strong, authoritarian government may lead to unity and even development in the short term, history shows us that such regimes are unsustainable. An environment of fear and culture of patronage means that no one ever succeeds on merit.”
Tunku Zain also touched upon the theme of the summit when he stated that “mapping the ideal Malaysia requires youth to arise. To arise in terms of interest in the country, arise in terms of awareness of national issues, and arise in terms of engaging with others to map the ideal Malaysia.” He emphasised that the issues being tackled in the summit – employability, mental health, sustainability and clean energy, among others – are ones that remain crucial to be improved upon, regardless of whether elections are coming or not.
Tunku Zain ended his speech with the following quote from Almarhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj:
“Ketua ialah seorang hamba yang mempersembahkan diri supaya menjadi pesuruh kepada sekelian rakyat jelata dan pekerjaannya ialah meng-orban-kan diri untuk berkhidmat kepada rakyat jelata… Saya hanyalah mempunyai satu kepala, satu hati dan dua belah tangan untuk menjalankan kerja yang amat berat ini.”
Tunku Zain gave the keynote address at the National Aspiration & Leadership Summit 2018. The event was themed “Youth Arise: Mapping the Ideal Malaysia”, and was held at Putra World Trade Centre on 4 February 2018.
