THE ‘ARAB SPRING’ AND MALAYSIAN YOUTH: KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTIONS AND INFLUENCES

Authors : Mohd İrwan Syazli SAİDİN

Pages : 59-77

Doi:10.25272/j.2149-8539.2017.3.2.04

View : 24 | Download : 9

Publication Date : 2017-08-15

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This paper examines the attitude of Malaysian youth towards the ‘Arab Spring’ events in the  Middle East and North Africa. In particular, it explores the knowledge and perceptions of a  selected young generation in Malaysia towards the ‘Arab Spring’ as well as considering how  the events impact and influence their attitudes towards regime change, democracy and  political stability. The major involvement of Malaysian youth in a series of mass protests,  popularly known in Malaysia as the “Bersih movement” against the ruling government, were  perceived by numerous local and foreign journalists as an attempt to create a “Malaysian  Spring”. However, there have been strong opinions voiced by the Malaysian authorities and  various local scholars suggesting that there was no basis for presuming an ‘Arab Spring’  impact in the context of the Malaysian experience. This raises the question of the relationship  between the ‘Arab Spring’ and Malaysian youth. Nevertheless, the central concern that needs  to be highlighted is the extent to which youth in Malaysia grasp the significance of the ‘Arab  Spring’ before jumping to any conclusion about the polemics of the “Malaysian Spring”. In  so doing, both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied through a questionnaire  based-survey which was conducted in Malaysia involving 607 respondents, primarily  Malaysian youth between the ages of 18 and 35, as well as 10 in-depth interviews with selected  Malaysian youth leaders ranging from those in opposition political parties to those in nongovernment  organisations insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(NGOs);. The outcome of this research shows that the majority of  respondents have an outstanding knowledge on the ‘Arab Spring’ which was mostly obtained  via new social media such as Facebook and Twitter, along with mixed perceptions toward the  events. Furthermore, they also reached an understanding that the uncertainties in the Arab  world would eventually lead to another wave of uprisings in the long term. The global impact  of the Arab Spring events, some elements of political repression, coupled with corruption and  power abuses insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(which some claimed to be practised by the Malaysian regime);, led to a number  of youth believing that they were inspired by the acts of mass street protests during the ‘Arab  Spring’. This inspiration came when they witnessed the ousting of several long-serving  autocratic Arab rulers in their respective states. However, the fear of insecurity and political  instability which is currently evident in the post-Arab Spring in Egypt, Libya, Syria and the  Yemen led to some respondents favouring political stability rather than regime change. Most  of the respondents were fairly sceptical about the polemics of the “Malaysian Spring” as most  of them neither disagreed nor agreed that the series of political rallies by the Bersih movement  were an indirect effort to topple the ruling government which was ‘accused’ by several progovernment  media, politicians and authorities in Malaysia. Overall, this empirical research  found that the majority of Malaysian youth are supportive of a free and democratic election  as a relevant medium for political change, rather than overthrowing the current regime via  civil disobedience.
Keywords : The Arab Spring, Malaysian Youth, Political Stability, Democracy and Regime Change