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Political apathy? Not in the run-up to the general election, according to SHANNON TEOH, who says both voters and non-voters showed an increasing interest in the political landscape

FLORENCE Rajandran grew up in a Malaysian family that didn't bother with politics and never voted.

Now a schoolteacher in Singapore, she had never even seen a politician speak.

Nonetheless, this month, the 26-year-old made her way across the Causeway to Kampung Baru Ban Foo to listen to a ceramah by the history-making Kumutha Rahman, the first Hindu Pas candidate ever. She even sneaked into Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's press conference in Singapore.

Rajandran represents the sea change that has swept the country before, during and after the 12th general election.

Back in 2006, the Malaysian Institute for Research in Youth Development released statistics which seemed to point to political apathy among young Malaysians. Their Malaysian Youth Index gave our youth (aged 15-40) a 'D' for political involvement, with an average score of 32.9 per cent.

While Professor Dr Samsudin Abdul Rahim, the institute's chief executive officer, still notes a significant number of youth not registered to vote, he believes that because youth are more idealistic, their interest was piqued this year because of the various issues played out by the political parties.

"When the Barisan Nasional got worried during the 1999 elections they took care of the youth but the politics of development doesn't really attract them. The issues for young people are freedom and transparency," he says, noting that this was why the pendulum shifted to the opposition as they harped on those points.

Rajandran is the archetypal youth that Samsudin describes. Despite her intense curiosity during the election period, she was not registered to vote beforehand.

"Who would have thought such exciting things would happen? I think it's not just the people who change things but the parties involved were also displaying this change."

One of the changes that occurred was the direct manner in which politics could engage with the previously apathetic of any age.

Dr Farish Noor, senior fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technical University, Singapore, has been among those bringing academic views out of the ivory towers and into arts and culture hubs such as The Annexe, Central Market and No Black Tie in the Malaysian capital.

"The lectures are aimed at providing an understanding that politics is not confined to parliament or state assemblies but all aspects of social life," he says.

"What we've seen is perhaps the most educated and informed voting public in Malaysian history."

One such member of the voting public went all the way and quit his job as a journalist to be a voluntary campaign worker.

Mak Khuin Weng, 32, after seeing the same issues brought up in the media over and over again, decided that it was time to take matters into his own hands and became campaign manager for Edward Lee, DAP's newly elected assemblyman for Bukit Gasing.

He claims they have managed to get people more involved in politics.

"Lee has been getting requests from parents to run a workshop for teenagers because they are concerned by the political ignorance of their children," says Mak, who has also seen many constituents offering to help run Lee's service centre.

Key to why many are showing such interest was the accessibility of information.

Samsudin says that young people are not really turned on by mainstream media and know Facebook and YouTube better.

"They believe alternative sources to be more credible."

According to Farish, the accessibility created a desire for more information -- which could explain the increased traffic for many online news sites and those dealing with Malaysian politics.

Razak Ezam, 30, for example, became more interested when the mainstream media began to have more independence in their editorial content.

"What is important for me is that different points of view are published and made available for everyone so that people can make their own conclusions," says the public relations practitioner.

Su Wong, a brand consultant, was disinterested until someone sent her a link to the new local news website, TheMalaysianInsider.com: "Once I was hooked, there was no turning back."

And after the results, others joined Wong in their newfound political interest. Stiffer competition in the March 8 polls played a major role.

There were many like Lydia Lim, 26, who stayed up to 5am to follow the results and to monitor the political upheavals.

"It's taken this World Cup-like aura. The way the coverage was this year seems to work with people who wouldn't normally be interested," says copywriter Izuan Shah, 28. Daren Lee, 34, says it's been even more exciting than any football match.

But many are at a loss as to how to follow up on their newfound interest.

Not everyone is as committed as Yasmin Rasyid, 32, who's already expressed her interest in being involved in future activities by Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Nurul Izzah Anwar and Elizabeth Wong.

Or as ambitious as magazine editor Faisal Shah, 34, -- grandson of Malaysia's first woman minister Tun Fatimah Hashim -- who has been "inspired" by what he considers to be Loh Gwo-Burne's fortuitous election and wants to work towards being an elected representative himself.

Others are only convinced they should register to vote but are unwilling or unable to commit much beyond that.

Samsudin suggests that those who do not want to commit to a political party as yet can get involved in social volunteerism.

"At the grassroots level, working with non-governmental organisations will allow young people to be an influence and make an impact while also learning more about the issues they are concerned about."

Farish, on the other hand, believes that they need not look so far.

"You can be involved through your everyday lifestyle choices. People realise now they can boycott goods, parties and the media by their choice of consumption. These are, in fact, political choices."

It appears that as technology continues to spread in our developing country, more people will be keeping abreast of the political landscape. Even those not normally seen as technophiles -- like retiree Janette Koh, 59, who gleefully notes that with so much information on the web and via SMS, "It's Discovery channel time! Let's see who was making empty promises and who was sincere."

Farish considers this sentiment as a salient warning to the elected representatives.

"The public now realises that it can give an enormous mandate (as in 2004) and can take it away too. The winners are the public. They can make and break a government so all parties need to be careful."

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