NOVEMBER 13 — When Pakatan Harapan (PH) announced its young candidate for the Kuala Linggi state constituency in Melaka, public scepticism was almost instantaneous. Muhammad Mukhlisul Mubin Julasapiyah, a young law graduate, soon found himself at the receiving end of online ridicule, with social media users casually dismissing him as budak mentah, budak tak matang, budak tak ada pengalaman, budak tak tahu apa-apa. The familiar vocabulary of condescension, delivered with remarkable confidence by those who seem convinced that age is the ultimate measure of competence.
Once again, why are we so sceptical of the young? What exactly is wrong with someone in his twenties aspiring to represent his community? Since when has political maturity become the exclusive privilege of those who have spent decades occupying positions of authority?
