Many countries around the world has reduced their eligibility of voting to the age of 18-

year olds. Some countries have even gone so far to reduce their voting age to 16 years old and

Austria is a perfect example for it (Baltzersen,2019). However, in Malaysia there are still

negative sentiments that disagree with the reduction of the voting age. One of the major reasons

to this phenomenon is that 18-year olds are not matured enough to understand the world of

politics. This raises the question. With the majority of the world lobbying that the proper voting

age should be 18 years of age, are 18-year olds really not too young to be given the

responsibility of deciding their nations future? There are many reasons that show that 18-year

olds are not too young to vote as many people of that age have experienced and participated in

politics throughout their lives, they are well educated, they are considered as the majority at

the age of 18 by law in Malaysia and 18-year olds are very much affected by the impact of

newly introduced government policies and provisions.

First and foremost, voters in their 18 years are not too young to vote as they have

experienced and participated in politics throughout their lives. “An ally, U.S. Representative

Grace Meng (D-New York), pointed out that high school students have been getting more

active in political matters in recent years” (McDonald, 2019, para.4). The majority of 18-year

olds in the country would be tertiary education students and these students who are now in

colleges and universities may participate in other clubs such as the Student Representative

Council which operates similarly to the peoples’ representative in parliament. The clubs that

involved by the students may let the students to have the better idea of the process running in

parliament and the organisational structure of parliament. Besides, the Ministry of Education

has included the basic political structures and the procedure of voting into the educational

agenda. This can be seen clearly in the Form 4 and Form 5 history text book, the government

had put in the eligibility for a candidate to elect and the parliamentary system to let the students

to have knowledge about politics. Apart from that, younger generations in their 18-year olds
may have the experience of participating in political campaigns organised by political parties.

In order to encourage the turnout rate in voting to be increased and to let the younger

generations to have a clearer view for the policy and promises of each candidate before an

election starts, the candidate of the party usually will organise the manifesto campaign .The

voters in their 18-year olds or even before the age may have the exposure to attend the

manifesto campaign and due to this, they have the experience in politics and they should have

the chance to cast their vote because they have their own perceptions and can make their own

decisions too. Hence, the younger generations are very much exposed to the doctrine of politics

in a country.

In the second place, voters at the age of 18 are not too young as they are now well educated.

Education provides us with knowledge about the world. In Malaysia, a person who has a Sijil

Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) is considered as an intellectual person. In a news reported by The

Stars, our education director-general Datuk Dr Amin Senin said that 85.2 percentage of

students who sat for the SPM 2017 are qualified for the SPM certificate. This clearly proves

that Malaysian teenagers at the age of 18 are knowledgeable enough to become the voters and

to sense the real motive of the political groups. In other words, “high school students are at the

time of life when they are preparing to move into college and step out independently”. (Walton,

2018, para 3) This shows that these teenagers are brave and self-contained where they can make

decisions that will affect their life. According to (Walton, 2018), the teenagers at the age of 18

who has completed their high school studies are fully capable of choosing their own

representatives. In fact, education helps the teenagers to be more futuristic and pay attention

on ideas that will build a better nation. This is because, the education that they pursue during

their high school life helps them to think how the policies will affect the country not only in

the present but also in the future. For instance, if any of the competing party come out with a

policy to abolish Goods and Service tax (GST) and replace them with SST, the teenagers will
start to think how this will benefit or harm them in 10 more years as they will start to have their

own family about 5 to 10 years from the age of 18. This will consequentially help the growth

of the nation. At the same time, education helps them to be a broad mind person who can accept

both good and bad thing. They will think rationally on why and to whom to cast their votes.

Less educated people are usually afraid to change the government and this is one of the

strongest reason why Malaysia has been governed by the same party for the past 61 years. We

clearly can see that there are many disputes among the public and the government before.

However, the people still wanted to choose over the same party because they think that is the

way to show patriotism to the heroes who fought for the country’s independence. This thought

is totally contradict to the 21st century teenagers today. In their opinion, showing patriotism is

not voting the same party but choosing the right party that has the good intention to help their

people. In this context, teenagers at the age of 18 are well matured as they know what they

should do for a better country. Subject such as History will help them to be more cautious

especially when cast their vote because they know the consequences they need to face in the

future of their today’s act. Thus, the educated young generation will create a good impact in

choosing a better government.

Thirdly, 18-year olds is considered as a legal age for a person. Countries such as Cambodia

and Vietnam consider a person of 16 years of age as an adult. According to (Mcdonald, 2019,

para.3) “A 16-year-old in 2019 possesses a wisdom and maturity that comes from 2019

challenges, hardships, and threats.” In Singapore, minimum age to join in national service is

18 (Cheng,2015). However, in the context of Malaysia, the legal age of a person is 18-year olds

according to s. 2 of Age of Majority Act 1971. When a person has reached 18 years of age, the

Film Censorship Board of Malaysia permits them to watch R- rated films. The Film

Classification of Malaysia that has been approved by the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia

has classified them into three categories which are U, P13 and 18. These logos can be seen in
every movies’ description in the cinema or before it starts on television. Bear in mind that

newspapers or the news on television are not protected by these logos. Television news and

newspapers report on incidences which involve violence, crimes, and politics which are

happening around us. Which means that these young adults are already exposed to what is

going on within the nation. In that case, not only are they in the legal age but at the same time

they also have the capacity of understanding how the three branches of the government namely

the judicial, parliamentary and executive work. Moving on, a person who has reached the age

of 18-year olds is liable to be charged with crimes in an adult court. This was stated in S. 83

(4) of Child Act 2001, where a person or a child that has reach the age of 18 years old will be

brought to a Court other than the Court for Children. In the year of 2017, T. Nhaveen was

bullied to death by several individuals named J. Ragesuthen and S. Gokulan, both were 18-

year olds during that time, two 17 years old which one of them turned 18 on July that same

year. The accused were brought to Penang High Court and was charged under Penal Code and

not the Child Act 2001. This showed that even though a person may be underage, the law

acknowledges them to be tried as an adult. That is to say that if they can be tried in an adult

court, then surely, they can be acknowledge as an adult in matters of voting for the country’s

future. Moreover, the legal age to marry in Malaysia is 18-year olds and can be as young as 16

with the permission of the Chief Minister or Syariah Court, which was stated in S.10 of Law

Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, and Islamic Family Law (Federal Territory) Act

1984. Marriage is not something to be undermined as it involves much commitment and carries

massive amounts of responsibilities. The law acknowledges 18 years old to marry, to have a

family of their own, to take up the responsibility of taking care and raising a family. These

young adults want what is best for them and their family. They also need to voice themselves

out, and protect their loved ones, and involve themselves in determining the future of their

country, but most importantly, their own future. That is, if the government allowed them to
vote in elections. If 18-year olds have the right of acquiring driving licences, watching R-rated

film, and tying the knot with their loved ones, then why should they be deprived the right to

choose their country’s future by casting their votes? (Mcdonald,2019) states that, every social

movement was made because the youth are the ones leading the way. Therefore, 18-year olds

is without a doubt should be the legal age for a person to vote in the democratic process of a

country, the elections.

Next, 18-year olds are very much affected by the impact and consequences of newly

introduced government provisions and policies. This is apparent in democracies all around the

world, whenever a new provision or policy is introduced by the current ruling government, 18-

year olds are always directly or indirectly affected by them. In Malaysia, private education

institutions in which provide legal education are plagued by the fact that their students are

forced to sit for the dreaded examination known as the Certificate in Legal Practice which will

dictate whether a law student is eligible to become a practicing lawyer. Hence, if a student falls

inside the passing quota, he or she will go on to be a practicing lawyer provided that they

achieve the passing grade. However, at the same time those who fall outside the quota will not

pass the examination although they have achieved the passing grade. This proves the be a

problem as those who wish to become lawyers in the future are subjected to a 50 percent chance

of not passing the exam by no fault of their own. As such, this will deeply affect the youth’s

choice of education. This was essentially the same argument made during the midst of the

Vietnam war whereby young American men were conscripted to go to war, (McDonald, 2019,

para.8) “18-year-old men were being drafted and sent to Vietnam, so they ought to be allowed

to vote in the elections that choose politicians who make such decisions”. Furthermore, 18-

year olds are also affected by new economical policies such as higher rates of taxation

introduced by the government will affect the financial position of the youth. As we all know,

fresh graduates who have just entered the workforce are mostly likely paid slightly higher
above the national minimum wage, or even worse at the minimum itself, as such they do not

have much disposable income after subtracting their cost of living. Economical provisions such

as higher income tax or higher goods and service tax will further reduce their disposable

income. Many 18-to-21-year-olds are working full time jobs and are acting upon the

responsibility of paying their taxes (Gershon, 2018) Hence, these fresh graduates will need to

tighten their belt, thoroughly remodel their spending patterns and crack their heads on how to

make ends meet, consequently affecting their quality of life indirectly. Besides that, under the

Federal Constitution of Malaysia, Article 10(a) provides that every citizen has the right to

freedom of speech and expression. The government at times may deprive these fundamental

rights such as the right to freedom of speech. In the context of Malaysia, the ruling government

in the year of 2018 introduced the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 in which is intended the curb the

spreading of fake news over social media platforms. However, in this act the word “Fake” is

not clearly defined which makes space for wide and uncertain interpretation. Hence, the

government may determine what news is fake although true and what news is true although

fake. As discussed above, the impacts of many actions made by the government both policy

and provisional-wise will deeply affect the youth as these policies and provisions may affect

very important decisions that they have to make during that point in time either educationally,

financially or socially. “Across the country, these students are getting involved. They are

marching. They are advocating for their generation’s future”. (McDonald,2019, para 5) Hence,

these 18-year olds are not too young and should be given the right to express their discontent

through participating in the elections and voting for the best political party to uphold their

interest.

Some people hold the view that 18- year-olds people are too young to vote as they think

that they should focus on their studies instead of involving themselves in politics. 18- year-olds

no matter they are in their high schools or as a university student, they are having their own
obligations as a student. As a student, many of them concerned that they should focus on their

studies in order to get a better achievement no matter in academic or extra-curricular activities.

They are having this perspective is due to the majority of 18-year olds are still getting money

from their parents and their economic is still mainly liable to their parents. However, there are

still 18 to 21-year-olds worked as a full time and paid taxes, and they did not receive special

protections from children, such as juvenile court, child labour law or the rights to public

schooling (Gershon,2018). Based on (Gershon,2018), there are majority of 18-year-olds still

pursuing their study however, they are still 18-year-olds that had already worked as a full time

and paid taxes to the government (Baltzersen,2019). As far as we concerned, 18-year-olds have

their own welfare to fight, they should involve in politics to use their voting powers to gain

benefits for themselves. Different ages people may have their different concern to vote. For

example, older generations will think off their benefits such as the aids provided by the

government every month for their daily life and the policy of government that are more

beneficial to them. Adults will think off the taxes that going to charge by the government and

the development of the country in term of infrastructure and economic growth.18-year-olds is

the age that the teenagers start to have their ability to think and have their own rationale, they

might ought for their seats in tertiary education, medicine and health care (Stepman,2019).

Therefore, they are not too young to vote as they should fight for their own benefits and the

benefits for the group of even younger as 18-year-olds know what they wanted more than those

adults. Teenagers in 2019 had possessed wisdom and maturity that comes from those

challenges, hardships and treats that they had been through (MacDonald,2019). Therefore, 18-

year-olds are not young to cast their vote.

Some people claim that, 18 years old are still young and this will create conflict as the

young adults are easily attracted to the fake promises made by some political parties however

the government has made the sufficient arrangements in educating teenagers about politics in
school and they are kept up to date as they are exposed to much information that are being

shared over social media. Government made it compulsory for the schools to teach the process

of voting and the importance of voting in school. For example, ‘Pendidikan Sivik’ helps the

students to understand the constitution and a certain independence of thought and action

(Stepman,2019). On top of that, the students learn the ethics in politics and some of the

important laws in their ‘Pendidikan Moral’. This will make sure that they are not captivated by

any political parties because of their tricks. Plus, there is no doubt that today’s young generation

are well known as social media influencers. In relation to this, many online news publications

are using the social media platform to inform the people on current issues. It does not stop here

as there are livestream allowed for the public to watch such as Parliament Conference and

interviews of the ministers. From this, the adult teenagers will become smart enough to see the

real motive and the behaviours of the politicians. Moreover, there are high number of teenagers

take part in politics indirectly through the social media. For example, if there is a post regarding

a social issue, the teenagers will show their both agreement and disagreement via the chat box.

By this act, the government can improve their ideas that satisfy the majority people. It is crystal

clear that the chances for the adult teenagers at the age of 18 to be cheated by the political

parties are very low.

18-year olds is an age which separates a teenager and young adulthood. These young adults

are eligible for rights according to the law and attached with them is the fair share of knowledge

which were gain not only through education but also the experiences they have encountered

from family, friends and media. With that, these young adults have already had a glimpse of

how the people, government, and politics work, and will surely know who to vote in elections.

(Walton,2018) says that voting is a process of habit-forming, and high school students are at

an age where they are preparing themselves to go college and be independent. Therefore, an

18-year olds person is not young to vote in election.

 References

Francis Cheng (2015, July). Lowering voting age to our youth in politics. The Straits Times.

Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/lower-voting-age-to-

engage-our-youth-in-politics

Jarrett Stepman (2019, March). Young people’s Embrace of Socialism shows why we

shouldn’t lower the voting age. Daily Signal. Retrieved from

https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/03/18/young-peoples-embrace-of-socialism-shows-why-

we-shouldnt-lower-the-voting-age/

J.K. Baltzersen (2019, March). Don’t Lower the Voting Age, Raise it. Foundation for

Economic Education. Retrieved from https://fee.org/articles/don-t-lower-the-voting-age-raise-

it/

Don Walton (2018, October). Lincoln senator wants to lower voting age to 16. Journal Star.

Retrieved from https://journalstar.com/legislature/lincoln-senator-wants-to-lower-voting-age-

to/article_48d1617a-be90-5145-92a4-55baf9b96d30.html

Matt McDonald (2019, March) Ayanna Pressley Serious About Lowering Voting Age to 16,

But U.S. House Isn’t, For Now. New Boston Post. Retrieved from

https://newbostonpost.com/2019/03/08/ayanna-pressley-serious-about-lowering-voting-age-

to-16-but-u-s-house-isnt-for-now/

Livia Gershon (2018, October) The Case for Lowering the Voting Age. Daily Jstor. Retrieved

from https://daily.jstor.org/case-lowering-voting-age/