A couple of years ago, I wrote an article on the role of the
Welfare Ministry in developing the character of our youths in Malaysia. The article rested
on a few principles. First, that in order for youths to experience a useful and meaningful
existence in any society, opportunities must be created for them to participate in real
situations for genuine purposes in the society. Second, that in order for those
opportunities to occur, some re-orientation of social order seems to be called for, namely
in the way we re-identify our roles in the society; and thirdly, in order that real
situations for genuine purposes to occur, we had to create not markets, but institutions
that are capable of providing the youths a formal and a legitimate platform from which
their contributions can further gain value and recognition alongside others in the
society.
Youth participation itself is nothing new: the old traditions and values of many Eastern
and Asian communities, and in fact in some Western as well, expected the participation of
the young and the old. However, the purposes of youth participation then was either to
contribute to the economy of the family or a community; or else, to be trained to protect
the community. These two functions of youth participation still exist today in some
countries. I do not however, propose these lines of participation for our youths.
It appears to me that historically, youth isolation is a phenomenon arising out of a
combination of Marxist ideology which places great emphasis on class identities, and a
theory of survival of the fittest, where personal liabilities such as dependants- and
these included children- were best regarded as appendages rather than resources.
Neo-Marxism theories of self-perpetuating class distinctions would probably offer an
explanation of voluntary self-isolation, and indeed, concepts such as "adolescent
withdrawals" and "teenage rebellion" actually promote both the idea of
struggle against authority as well as the segregation of groups of individuals for various
reasons.
In the Islamic legacy, these concepts of rebellion, struggles between classes, and
under-valuing are almost non-issues to begin with. The religion gives the young the right
to voice, and issues on them filial, family and communal responsibilities. The age of
puberty and of personal accountability in the religion IS indeed young, but that only
serves to remind us that the constituents of the human mind, spirit, will, and physique
has been created to be capable of poignant commitments even at such a tender age. Youth is
an individual's legacy and a source of renewal for the ummah. They form a new pool of
knowledge and understanding: through them, and with them, we are continually discovering
the meanings, the forms, the ideologies, the values and the substance of challenges we
have today, and tomorrow.
The principle of creating real opportunities for participation appears to be linked first,
to the necessity of making assessments of the concrete contributions youths can make or
are potentially capable of making if given the guidance. Secondly, we have to learn to be
creative in our needs for those contributions. The Swiss was the first to create the
quartz watch, but it took the Japanese' ingenuity and creativity to realize its potential.
Every member of a society, from young to old, is a potential consumer of youth power .
Third, in order for those opportunities to be experienced as real, there has to be an
element of diversity and choice; that some significance or value is inherent in the
participation itself; and that there is a scope for continuity and development into
whatever the opportunity for participation avails itself to. In other words, real
opportunities ought to steer away from an once-off type of experience.
However, unless the environment readily espouses opportunities for the inclusion and
recognition of youths in a real sense of communal development, youth participation remains
an isolated cause. Ours is the responsibility to provide for and to build upon that
environment of local responsiveness to our youths; and one which communicates a genuine
need for their youthful capabilities to rejuvenate, consolidate, and extend upon our
endeavours to be constructive in our lives and our faith.
J.Abdul Hamid
23 December 1997.
-----------------------------
[Currently, she is at the final stage of her doctoral programme in the University of
Cambridge. Her main field of interests include Power and Politics in Management; and
Intellectualism, Activism and Spirituality in History.]
