#kerajaangagal36 – I would have suggested that Form V student Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam should be nominated Senator to articulate the voice of youths in Senate if this is not barred by the Malaysian Constitution which requires a Senator to be at least 30 years old
I would have suggested that Form V student Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam should be nominated Senator to articulate the voice of youths in Senate if this is not barred by the Malaysian Constitution which requires a Senator to be at least 30 years old.
The Malaysian Constitution in this regard needs to be amended to keep abreast with changing times but this is another story.
It is indeed shocking that there are plans afoot to expel Ain Husniza from her school, SMK Puncak Alam. If this is allowed, it would be to the infamy and ignominy of the Education Minister, Radzi Jidin and the Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin.
Have they heard of Greta Thunberg?
For Muhyddin and Radzi’s information, Thunberg is a 18-year-old Swedish environmental activist who is internationally known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.
This is what Wikipedia said about Thunberg:
“Thunberg's activism started after persuading her parents to adopt several lifestyle choices to reduce their own carbon footprint. In August 2018, at age 15, she started spending her school days outside the Swedish Parliament to call for stronger action on climate change by holding up a sign reading Skolstrejk för klimatet (School strike for climate).
“Soon other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities. Together they organised a school climate strike movement under the name Fridays for Future.
“After Thunberg addressed the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference, student strikes took place every week somewhere in the world. In 2019, there were multiple coordinated multi-city protests involving over a million students each.
“To avoid flying, Thunberg sailed to North America where she attended the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit. Her speech there, in which she exclaimed ‘how dare you’, was widely taken up by the press and incorporated into music.
“Her sudden rise to world fame has made her both a leader and a target for critics, especially due to her age. Her influence on the world stage has been described by The Guardian and other newspapers as the ‘Greta effect’.
“She received numerous honours and awards, including an honorary Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, inclusion in Time's 100 most influential people, being the youngest Time Person of the Year, inclusion in the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women (2019), and three consecutive nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize (2019–2021).”
Could Malaysia produce a Greta Thunberg?
The answer is in the negative if Ain Husniza is expelled for speaking up against injustices and wrongs perpetrated against students and campaigning to make schools a safe place for students.
Radzi has already failed miserably in failing to exercise leadership in both cases of period spot checks and lewd ,jokes by teachers in class for the past three weeks.
If Ain Husniza is expelled, it would be a grave dishonour to Radzi and the Prime Minister as the government would have failed to provide children with quality education in a safe environment of learning that actively promotes values of respect for all persons and non-violence.
Already, Ain Husniza’s case has been complicated by repulsive comments on the Facebook purportedly by her own principal, describing her as “anak setan”.
I had wanted to suggest that Ain Husniza should be nominated a Senator so that she could inform the Senate and the nation about the aspirations of the young people in Malaysia until I am reminded of Article 47 (a) of the Malaysian Constitution which requires a Senator to be “not less than 30 years old”.
According to available statistics, over 43% or about 14 million Malaysians are below 25 years of age. It would be good for the Senate and the nation to hear from Ain Husniza on the aspirations and concerns of Malaysians below 25 years.
It is a most ludicrous situation that a 18-year-old Malaysian can stand for election as a Member of Parliament in the Dewan Rakyat, and to cast his or her vote in general elections, but if below 30 years of age, he or she cannot be a member of the Senate.
President Biden has just appointed 18-year-old climate change activist Jerome Foster II, to be a member of his White House Enviromental Justice Advisory Council, a move which the media has hailed as ”From protestor to climate policy maker”.
It is time that we give Malaysian youths of today not only more voice, but more influence and power in public policy formulation and implementation – and the last thing that should happen is the expulsion of Ain Husniza for speaking up against lewd jokes by teachers in class!