Thoughts of a 21-year-old in 2021

Do covid years even count? Yes, it very much does, at a time where staying alive is not guaranteed for the average joe, these years, more than any before matter the most.

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When you turn 21 a lot of things change, mentally and legally. I guess in a way the two intersect, because of your "mental maturity" you're now a full-on "adult" and can do real shit like rent a car and vote. Of course, this doesn't really matter, I don't really feel like my supposed maturity has evolved than what it was three years ago.

But I do feel the significance of turning 21, I guess it's the gen-z in me or the internal pessimist but I could never really comprehend being alive for this long. I remember when I was 10 telling my then best friend about how crazy it is that we're going to have to quite literally go through our entire lifespan to just turn 20. So to think that I'm now 21 blows my mind. I'm grateful to be alive and I'm thankful for everything that I've gotten throughout all these years. This pandemic has made me realize just how easy I have it. I cringe at my old self who complained about growing older when they're people out there taking years off their life just so that they could live another day.

I was talking to my friend a few days ago and a politician stupidly made fun of the white flag movement. I just couldn't understand how you can be that obtuse, after everything that had happened, how is he still trying to spin this story that we're "recovering" when daily death cases, infection rates, and unemployment are at their highest. It truly felt like an episode out of "The Good Place", he's Ted Danson trying to make us believed that this isn't hell. Malaysia was not even doing well before the pandemic, and now we've drowned. It's impossible to not talk about politics these days, maybe that's the way things should be since everything we experience is politicize, even turning 21.

I remember back when undi18 was officially established and being very doubtful. Of course part of me really wanted them to succeed but alas nothing has changed. I use to be a-political mostly because I couldn't vote. Why should I care about any party when at the end of the day my voice was not going to contribute to anything. I was politically aware but never opinionated, it seemed useless until Undi18 happened. Despite my pessimism, as a teenager in that time seeing all these "powerful" politicians, the nation, and my relatives fighting about why 18-year-olds should not have the right to vote and how our opinions could corrupt the system made me realize a few things. If they were that passionate about this topic and feared so greatly of our impact then we do matter. I started to understand that these age limits and preconceptions on youths have really held us back.

People say that your teenage years shape who you are but yet we put so much restraint on teenagers. How are people dumbfounded by low voter turnout of 20-year-olds when just a few years ago they said that our opinions are immature and bias at a time when every comment shapes the personality we grow up to take on. As someone who has officially grown out of being a teenager and now an official "adult", the rules that our society lays out, whether that be on paper or just socially, have completely shaped how I perceive the world today. Basically, what I'm trying to say is we can't separate the adult from the teenager, saying that somehow after a couple of years they'll suddenly be mature and ready to vote without bias is ridiculous. What they really want to say is that they hope from now till then we drop interest in politics and don't vote when it matters. Which to be fair to them, actually happens. I guess what's different now is just how dire things are. Our education, health, career, and livelihood have all been seriously jeopardized. I don't think I have a single friend that can say that they're where they feel like they should be. I mean just look at these stats:

We're all just trying to do the most with the situation we've been given and it's extremely devastating. Underemployment is on the rise and graduate wage levels are decreasing, people try to spin it and say it's because fresh graduates aren't participating in the workforce, as if that's a good reason. After working their asses off in school you expect people to accept demeaning jobs that barely cover their expenses ?. Instead, we're off learning other skills, pivoting away from the passion we initially had just so that when we do take these alternative jobs at least we'll get better pay. I really don't see the rationale in the government's effort to push for reskilling and retraining when it's putting the student's degree to waste.

Many of my friends talk about wanting to leave the country, to find greater opportunities elsewhere. But in reality, the situation for us outside is just as bad. I remember last year reading about Malaysian's working in Singapore as garbage handlers and somehow still earning more than some fresh graduates engineers here in Malaysia. Of course, if you went to an ivy league school and have a Linkedin filled with experiences that require the "show more" button multiple times this wouldn't be the situation you're in. But for the majority of us, it's pretty dire. A lot of experts have concluded that Malaysia is falling behind its ASEAN counterparts like Vietnam and Indonesia. We're not meeting the productivity levels and our market just isn't as vital to the ASEAN expansion many are seeing. We don't have that comparative advantage like our neighboring countries. Maybe at one time, our growing middle class was intriguing but even with that as our prime minister said himself the B40 group has grown to become B50, so what really does our country have to offer?

I started writing this to contemplate my existential thoughts as I become 21. If you had asked me a few years ago what I would write in an article like this, I would have definitely wanted to talk about taking more chances in relationships and doing more impulsive things like bungy jumping or going on a solo vacation trip. Instead, all I've talked about is the dead-end future we're all facing. Of course, not everything is gloomy and I'm definitely not as badly affected as most but that doesn't make the situation any less terrifying. As I currently work to create more fair job opportunities and give businesses the necessary funds to help young talents I'm a bit relief to know at least I'm doing something to push for change. Even if I've been laughed at, doubted and nearly stopped trying to do so. There isnt really a summary of my thought here other than the system we have now is flawed because it's discriminatory, not only in terms of race but also age. We can't have a developed nation if we keep putting down the generation that's actually going to lead us into that supposed prosperous future.

This year's birthday has made me cherish my life more than any birthday before has. Even if tomorrow is the day all hell breaks lose, I'm so glad for everything that god has given me and I know that's not the case for most during this time. I've decided to donate my entire disposable income for my birthday month to a couple of charities, if you want to do the same you can do so at the following links:

1. Edukasi Asli (Helping bride the digital gap hindering the education of orang asli): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfdaMb63FOKs74B_VJldQD4CtRmmEATOtWKdazQog17HFO0Yw/viewform

2. Lockdown Kit (Ensuring that no one goes hungry): https://www.lockdownkit.site/

3. Yayasan Chowkit (Multiple aids but for this months I donated to their cause helping single parent families): https://www.simplygiving.com/appeal/help-our-single-parent-families