Heading in the Wrong Direction?

The public opinion research firm Merdeka Centre recently unveiled the findings of its latest National Youth Survey which gives a glimpse into the mindset and struggles of the so-called ‘Generation Z'.

The National Youth Survey 2024 was conducted from 3 April to 12 May 2024 and polled 1,605 Malaysian youths between 18 and 30 years old from various demographics that were selected randomly through a stratified sampling method along the lines of ethnicity, gender, age and states.

Among others, the survey includes several questions about their source of information and social media consumption patterns, thoughts on the national outlook and economic concerns, education and career aspirations, cultural identity and social progress, vision for inclusive governance and the national political landscape.

Image source: Merdeka Centre

In terms of national outlook and economic concerns, a majority (52%) of the Malaysian GenZ-ers feel that our country is going in the wrong direction, while only 33% believe Malaysia is heading on the right path and the rest were unsure.

As for the respondents who believe that Malaysia is going in the wrong direction, almost half of them (48%) point to economic concerns as their main reason for holding the opinion. As for others, they believe Malaysia is going in the wrong direction due to our country's administration (10%), politics (9%), racial (4%) and leadership (3%).

Overall, 77% of all respondents are concerned about the economy, including the high cost of living and inflation (41%), minimum income (15%) and unfavourable conditions in general (9%).

Image source: Merdeka Centre

Rather paradoxically, however, 84% of respondents feel they have a good quality of life currently compared to the 15% who think they have a bad quality of life. For the latter, Merdeka Centre noted that the 15% mostly consist of the Malaysian Indian and Muslim Bumiputera communities.

Going deeper into the quality of life and social mobility, 47% of GenZ-ers feel they're better off than their parents in terms of Standard of Living, 35% think they’re in the same boat as their parents and 14% think they’re worse off.

When asked about their Personal Financial Situation, 38% of respondents feel they’re better off than their parents, 30% think they’re on par, and 26% think they’re worse off than their parents.

As for Job Security, 43% think they’re better off than their parents. 29% believe they’re the same and 15% think they’re worse off.

58% of Malaysian Chinese and Indian youth feel they're unfairly treated by the Government.

Image source: Merdeka Centre

To gauge GenZ-ers views on fair treatment, Merdeka Centre asked different sets of questions to Malaysian Chinese and Indian respondents than what they asked their Malay and Muslim Bumiputera counterparts.

For the Malaysian Chinese and Indian respondents, 58% of the Malaysian Chinese and Indian respondents believe they're generally unfairly treated by the Government and are frequently discriminated against in Malaysia, while only 37% think they're fairly treated and not discriminated against.

This is in stark contrast to the finding of the 2023 version of the survey, whereby last year, the majority (46%) believed they're fairly treated in Malaysia and 43% thought otherwise.

As for the 2024 survey, 62% of Malaysian Indian respondents think they’re unfairly treated in their own country, while 57% of Chinese respondents hold the same view.

75% of Malay and Bumiputera respondents in the East Coast want Malays' privileges to continue.

Image source: Merdeka Centre 

Meanwhile, 50% of Malay and Bumiputera respondents think that as the Bumiputera in Malaysia, the Malays' privileges should continue, while 48% think all Malaysians should be treated equally and given the same rights regardless of race and religion.

This nearly split opinion on the matter is also consistent when the poll was sorted through male (50% - 48%) and female (49% - 49%) Malay and Bumiputera respondents, but a clear majority (73%) of Malay respondents want the Malays' privileges to continue.

When sorted regionally, the nearly split opinion on the matter also persists in Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

However, in the East Coast (Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang), the majority (75%) want Malays' privileges to continue, while in East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), the majority (65%) think all races and religions should be given equal rights.

Image source: Merdeka Centre 

In terms of inter and intra-ethnic relationships, the survey found that all ethnic groups have more trust in their own ethnicity compared to others.

Moreover, Malay GenZ-ers seem to have lower trust in other ethnicities, with 57% towards Chinese and 53% towards Indians.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Chinese GenZ-ers trust Malays (92%) almost as much as they trust their own ethnicity (95%), but they have less trust in Indians (83%).

As for Malaysian Indian GenZ-ers, they trust Malaysian Chinese (83%) more than Malays (79%).

Despite this, 73% of respondents revealed that they have close friends or acquaintances from a different ethnic background, with only 26% of respondents only socialising within their own ethnicity.

Instead of wasting time with halal certs and other non-issues, politicians should focus on steps for the future of this nation. Young people are clear in what they want. And it is time for the Madani government to do something about it!

Reference:

Study shows majority of #GenZ Malaysia Chinese and Indians feel discriminated in own country & unfairly treated by Gov’t, Jamie, newswav.com, 12 September 2024