What’s next after Undi 18 Bill?

The lowering of Malaysia’s minimum voting age from 21 to 18 years was gazetted in the Federal Constitution more than a month ago.

Yet, the topic of ‘Voting Age’ still made headlines in August. Although its exposure is not as high as in July, voting age was still discussed in the media from time to time.

Overall, the topic’s trend is fluctuating. High media exposure on ‘Voting Age’ can be seen on the 4^th, 16^th and 27^th of August.

The topics discussed in August were mostly about the next step after the Undi 18 Bill passed the parliament.

For example, there were news about the Rukun Negara school programme which aims to improve the political literacy among students. The Rukun Negara syllabus is still currently in its drafting state.

Additionally, there were also articles which wrote on youth empowerment, which also tackled the issue of unpaid internships.

Apart from that, Selangor Ruler Sultan Nazrin also voiced his support on the lowering of Malaysia’s minimum voting age. The sultan said that the voting age set at 18 years will allow the youths to shape the nation.

However, he also said that the young people needed to be guided in understanding the meaning and practices of democracy, and the system of government.

Nevertheless, Malaysians at the of 18 will not be automatically registered as voters for the time being. The Electoral Commission (EC) announced that its automatic voter registration system will only be ready in two years.