Convincing Features
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Your writing partner wrote an initial draft for a cause and effect essay, and received some feedback from the lecturer. You now have to improve it for final submission. Use the notes to refine this draft.
Note: Citations can be direct quotations or paraphrases. You do not need to correct any sentences, spelling or grammar errors or add/delete any other content.
In the 2022 general elections, 18 to 40 year olds became part of the biggest electoral bloc in the history of Malaysia. Yet despite such a growth in numbers, experts generally predicted that not many of these young voters would even turn up to the ballots. For instance, a survey by the Merdeka Centre found “only 40% of Malay Muslim youths are keen to cast their ballots” (“Only 40% of Malay youths”, 2022). Such low turnout, at state and national levels, can be linked to the concept of political apathy, a lack of interest in political processes including voting. This issue affects young people not just in Malaysia but across the world.
Among the main causes of youths’ political apathy is a lack of faith in the process of politics. Why care when politicians, decision makers and other people in power do not seem to reciprocate? In Malaysia itself for example, politicians “are unlikely to deal with matters that youths are most engaged in, such as job prospects and the education system” [https://www.todayonline.com/world/malaysia-ge2022-political-apathy-ignorance-common-among-young-voters-amid-concerns-over-economy-2040766]
Similar apathy occurs across Eastern Europe [https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2017.22106] to Africa (“Political apathy”, 2023). Clearly, young people across the globe do not find it imperative to involve themselves in the political process as they do not believe anything substantial would occur because of their participation. In a manner of speaking, it feels like a waste of time and more importantly, a waste of mental and emotional labour.
Besides lack of faith, lack of political knowledge also contributes to political apathy among young people. Whether it is self-perceived or objectively measured, unawareness of political issues and current affairs often undermines young people’s confidence in participating in democratic processes and further drives their apathy. In other words, you cannot truly care about something you have little to no idea about. This specific kind of ignorance can be further attributed to the notion that
