Better jobs, higher pay, a visionary government: What Malaysia’s young, first-time voters want to see

WHEN Malaysians head to the polls soon – the next General Election is widely expected to be held in the first half of November – about 5.8 million people will be voting for the first time.

Of these, around 1.2 million of them are aged between 18 and 20 years old, marking the first time that this age group is allowed to vote. This after an amendment to the Federal Constitution was passed in 2019 to lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18, and with it a new rule to automatically register voters to the electoral rolls. This means the total number of eligible voters has now gone up to 21.1 million, a sizeable increase from the 15 million at the last election held in 2018.

All eyes will be on whether these young and first-time voters will make a big difference in how the final results play out. Here are five questions on the minds of the electorate as Malaysia approaches the big day.