Johor made a 540° turn when deciding on the definition of ‘youth’

Lately, Johor was entangled with a difficulty in defining the age range for ‘youth’. The issue sparked after the Youth Societies and Youth Development (Amendment) Bill 2019 was passed by government on July 3.

 

Thus, the definition of ‘youth’ was redefined to those who fall between the age of 15 and 30 years. Previously, ‘youth’ was set at the age range of 15 to 40 years.

 

 

Within a two-day period, from July 8 to 9, the state government of Johor had made three U-turns while defining the meaning of ‘youth’.

 

Initially, they disagreed with the new youth age cap, but then they agreed to it before switching back to their original stance with the age cap set at 40 years.

 

The indecisive stance did not only confuse the Johoreans, it also baffled Malaysians in general. In return, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the federal government would find out the cause behind the sudden disagreement of the Pakatan Harapan-led state towards the amendment.

 

According to the statement by Johor executive councillor Sheikh Umar Baghrib Ali on the night of July 9, the decision which came was made after further discussion and advice of several parties, but no names were mentioned.

 

 

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince of Johor Tunku Ismail stirred up a rumour through his tweet on Twitter. On the morning of July 9, he uploaded a photo of him together with Sheikh Umar and the Menteri Besar of Johor Dr Sahruddin Jamal with the caption “Muafakat itu berkat. ALLAH Berkati Johor”.

 

Consequently, netizens suspected that the Johor royalty had something to do with the hat trick U-turn. Is it true? Or is it merely a coincidence?