“… give us your strategy to combat apathy among Malaysian youth.”

this is a paraphrased title of a writing competition a few months ago, promising the prize of book vouchers. I wrote it out and lost my main copy, and now that I’ve found it, I’m going to put my essay here for safekeeping.

The topic of youth problems and their ‘inaction’ is an issue I take very seriously, and I took the liberty of assaulting their topic choice instead of going with the flow. As my friend puts it, “topic-shitting.” However, this does not mean that I made lightly of the essay, and another reason I’m posting it here is so that I can get as many people to read it as possible. I’d appreciate your comments, tell me which parts you liked or didn’t like, and feel free to do it anonymously (if your comment doesn’t show up immediately it’s because it ran by the spamcheck first).

Despite disagreeing with the topic from the very beginning, the essay still received an Honourable Mention.
For the rest of the post, click on the title or the brackets.

(UNTITLED: if you have a title idea send it in the comments!)
I must apologise in advance. I know I am expected to explain why our lack of concern is cause for grave concern, and how to crack out the smelling salts in time before Malaysia becomes ours to run.

However, although it is easy to list the problems of my peers (plenty of practice from high school essays), I have decided to stand my ground and defend my peers, my friends. They are strong, talented people who have the potential to make great things happen, despite being misunderstood and resigned to the stereotype of today’s “apathy-filled” youth. These are people who are learning to prove you wrong.

Yes, you, the grown-ups, or perhaps non-youth for lack of a better term.

To say that Malaysian youth are apathetic is to literally say that we are devoid of passion, emotion, or excitement, and lacking interest in things that others find moving. I find this incredibly hard to believe. Which youth lacks these? They practically exist in us by default. I don’t know a single person lacking it. In fact, I even know a few who are passionate about being emotionless! We are an easily excited bunch.

So who decides which ‘things’ in which we lack interest would qualify us as apathy-afflicted? Are we expected to continuously synchronise our mindsets until they are all on your page before declaring the ‘combat’ over?

I am not denying the existence of apathy or its prevalence among Malaysian youth, but instead of playing the offensive, let us try another approach: understanding its roots. Most of us have become passive consumers - your ideal target market, what with our tendency to constantly replace cellphones or clothes, and even feel inferior when we don’t.

Passive consumers breed passive thinkers. It is far easier to give in, snicker at the common perspective, than rebel against the patronising efforts to repair our priorities. It is easy not to care, because stoicism is expected of us. Affecting positive change has become the underdog.

We foster our apathy by cultivating vices; a habit the non-youth have desperately tried to rid us of for years, hoping that increasing awareness will erase our unresponsive behaviour. But which youth social issue has not already been a problem for decades at least? Film stars were smoking before they turned Technicolor, and we all know that drugs had their heyday in the American flower-power ’60s.

It is all too easy to take the youth apathy label, stamp it on issues rampant since before our conception, and hope that by pinning us as delinquents, we will be the ones responsible for phasing out the problem.

Another reason to why our insensitivity exists is that we only work with what is given, with avenues provided to us by those who are to see us through to maturity. Reading, anti-drug, and anti-smoking campaigns all provide illusions of action but have been consistently ineffective because we see right through them, straight to the lack of sincerity. For example, I am voraciously addicted to literature, but I don’t owe it to a campaign. I owe it to people who have honestly recommended me books they loved. When youths feel they are being talked down to and their ideas fall onto deaf ears, they turn away.

I believe there is no clear-cut recipe to cure our indifference except to be realistic. Instead of investing time and effort on compulsory campaigns combating our tedium, everyone should focus on improving themselves. Role models don’t brainwash others into accepting their beliefs; they lead by example.

I believe Malaysian youths are capable of enthusiastic involvement. If you are truly open to the possibility that we are brighter than you think, then consider that we are capable of making our futures just as bright. Take us seriously. If you can convince us that we are making a difference, even if on a small scale (hey, we’re not greedy), then there will definitely be more where that came from.

Our devotion is not birthed from seminars or camps. When obligated into these, we feel strangled and respond with escapism. The aggression seems to hint at the paranoia that if we aren’t forced into these things, we will lack appreciation for our country.

What a ridiculous notion! Our love for our country is never an issue. We are always ready to love and contribute to the place we were born, but only with solid reason. If it becomes harder for us to complain, if we are given something positive and concrete to hold onto, we will come out of our shells and follow suit.

Why not? Enthusiasm is contagious, and there isn’t enough of it today. Shouldn’t this change? After all, our apathy is no more important than yours.