Malaysia’s Youth Definition by State

Lately, Johor made headlines for being indecisive in defining the age for ‘youth’. However, it was not the only state to revert the definition of ‘youth’ to between the age of 15 and 40 years as Selangor and Sarawak have done the same thing.

Selangor State Executive Councillor for Youth, Sports, and Human Capital Development, Mohd Khairuddin Othman announced that the state would maintain the previous youth age cap which is at 40 years. Nevertheless, he said that the state will still support the federal government’s amendments on the definition of youth to between the age of 15 to 30 years.

The reason behind Selangor’s decision to retain the previous definition is because there is a high number of Selangorians above the age of 30 whom are still active in youth development programmes, sports and outdoor programmes.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg said it is not necessary for the state to follow the change in definition made by Parliament. Thus, the definition of ‘youth’ in Sarawak is maintained with the age cap set at 40 years.

What is the best age range for the term ‘youth’? 15 to 30 years? 15 to 40 years? Or somewhere in the middle, between 15 and 35 years?