It Is Time For Youth In Politics | Russell Ooi | TEDxIGBIS Youth

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Transcriber: Magdalena Konik Reviewer: Walaa Mohammed Good afternoon! What an honor it is to be here today to talk about a topic that holds tremendous value to your future, my future, and the future of generations to come. From my childhood, I've always been enticed by politics and even up to now, whether that is the politics of Malaysia being Malaysia myself or the politics of countries around the world, having been watched hours of parliamentary sessions and kept up on recent political news, I've come to notice something. The lack of youth participation in politics. Let me ask you this. Are you content living in a world shaped by politicians who do not share your ideas, views and values? Do you really want to inherit a world governed by policies that did not take into account your perspectives? We, the youth, are the most at stake here. 50 years from now, we will be reaping the benefits of our active participation or we face in the consequences of having sat on the sidelines of politics our whole lives and saw the sidelines of politics our whole lives. We live in a world where it takes up posts or Instagram story can make a difference, so why say it out? Which brings me to the topic of my talk the importance of youth participation and perspectives in politics. Marin Grove, the youngest ever Norwegian politician so ever be elected into the starting once said: “We young people have life experience, but in a different way. We need to develop policies for everyone in the country.” While the young people have not lived as long as older generations and hence lacked experience, we have lived in the quickly changing world. We are able to bring fresh ideas and perspectives into the realm of politics. Throughout my research for this TED talk. I had the honor of interviewing an established politician and an upcoming politician studying in the University of Malaya, and it will both agree with me on this. Young people do bring fresh ideas and perspectives into politics. Being Gen Z, climate change is a big issue for me. I believe that climate change is something that politicians should gear their policies towards solving. And I'm not alone in this. In fact, climate change has been listed as the number one issue that most Gen Zs are concerned about. However, believing a one thing means nothing in the realm of politics without active advocacy and engagement. Which brings me back to why it's so important for the youth to be a part of politics. 16% . Does anyone want to guess what that number stands for? That number stands for the 1.2 not million, but billion people in the world from the ages of 15 to 24. Hence, making up the youth, making up such a large part of the population wouldn’t you want to be represented more? But how could you be represented more? How could you be more actively engaged and involved in politics? For my research for this TED talk, I've placed a heavy emphasis on being involved and engaged in politics. Being that you run for state or parliamentary seats. However, I soon come to realise that being involved and engaged in politics also means being politically aware, voicing your political opinions or doing something as simple as voting. But how? Well, for starters, being politically aware is rather simple. You... You can read up on political news and happenings in your country, or you can watch parliamentary sessions or keep up with the United Nations. Or you can even do research on major political parties and organisations in your country and around the world. Moving on. How can we ensure that the youth are comfortable voicing their political opinions without the social stigma of “Youth aren’t interested in politics” hold the youth back? Well, at the end of the day. It starts with us, the youth. It comes down to us. If we want to make change, if we want change, we have to make the change. We have to be the change. It starts with us taking the first step to step out of our comfort zone and say, Hey, we are interested in politics. This is what we want. Have a sit down with your friends and start a conversation about politics. Attend a peaceful rally or even join a peaceful rally or start one and gain support. Moving on through my research for this TED talk, including local interviews with local politicians that have placed a strong emphasis on the need for educational and social reforms in order for the youth to be more actively engaged and involved in politics. One of them being that schools need to teach political literacy and to encourage the youth to take a part in the decisions being made that will govern their lives for 50, 60, 70 years to come, according to a study published in 2016 titled “The Compensation Effect of Civic Classes How Civic Classes Make Up for Missing Parental Socialization” there is a simple solution towards encouraging the youth to take more part in politics and that schools need to teach politics in school. With that researchers have also established that young people who are exposed to politics from home, whether that is being from a family with a political background or just having a book about politics lying around could go a long way in empowering them to be politically active. However, not every child has access to that kind of privilege. Which brings me back to what is so crucial for schools to teach politics. School systems can be changed on a national and global scale at once, hence igniting the minds of young people around the world and impacting the lives of generations to come. Moving on. Constitutional change and amendments can be passed in order to provide the youth with more opportunities to take part in politics. According to the OECD, in 2020, Norway, Finland had the highest share of parliament members under the age of 40 compared to any other countries in the world. So what are these countries doing that we can learn from? Well, there is no definitive answer to that. There is no one solution. But according to regional Luis Marias, a professor of political science at the University of Bergen, one of the major contributing factors to Norway's relatively young politics, parliament is their electoral system. In Norway several candidates can be elected into the parliament from the same organisation, from the same district. This should detract political parties from the fear of losing seats, hence only sending their more experienced politicians and will encourage them to give younger, less experienced politicians a try. Before I leave today, I want you to imagine a world. I want you to imagine a world where young people are more engaged and involved in politics. Because to me, that looks like the world where there is intergenerational consideration and understanding. To me, that looks like the world where new ideas and perspectives can be harnessed in order to face and address issues that we face today that we will face tomorrow and that we will face from a year from now, at the very least. To me, that is a world with increased civic engagement and diverse representation. Plus, who wouldn't like seeing some fresh faces on TV?
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Channel: TEDx Talks
Views: 710
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: Education, English, Policy, Politics, Social Change, TEDxTalks, [TEDxEID:53554]
Id: pW1_uBhNlwY
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 8min 48sec (528 seconds)
Published: Wed Jul 26 2023
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