Penang is still the right “market” for Muda. It just needs to step up its game
Nearly three years after being trounced in the 2023 state elections, Muda appears to be subdued - particularly in Penang.
The party fielded 19 candidates in the election (three of them in Penang), and all of them lost to the point of forfeiting their election deposits. The party had previously fielded a parliamentary candidate in Kepala Batas in the 2022 general elections, Danial Abdul Majeed, who lost in a three-way contest to PAS-Perikatan Nasional. However, Danial managed to keep his election deposits, winning 14,214 votes, without a doubt thanks to the backing of PH voters in the constituency.
Suffice it to say, the young party had a rocky start in Penang. However, all is not lost for the party yet.
Right market, right ideology
While Muda’s critics might say that the party would never be able to re-establish itself in Penang, I would say the contrary: the party still has the potential to establish itself in the Pulau Mutiara.
Why do I say so? The party has the right sets of ideologies, and Penang is the right market for the party to sell its ideas.
Muda underwent a rejuvenation exercise last year- where it embraced social democracy as its guiding ideology, putting rest to speculation on what ideology it espouses. The party also adopted needs-based affirmative action policies, especially in the education sector - which is a bold move given how unpopular the position is among certain quarters.
By adopting these ideas, Muda could see itself being received well by non-Malays, who are the majority in Penang, as well as liberal or moderate Malays here. However, it needs to be acknowledged that the party's ideology and vision have limited its market to Chinese-majority or racially-mixed seats, which would see the young party clashing with PKR and DAP.
Furthermore, the party has the right set of ideas that is direly needed for Penang - which I believe deserves a much better class of opposition parties. This is because PN - especially PAS - is way too extreme in engaging in ethnoreligious politics - and it is turning off non-Malay voters.
We have seen how their MPs accused Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang's family of ties to communist leaders and engaged in ridiculous moral policing by admonishing a shopping mall for openly selling alcoholic beverages on its grounds although there are no state or federal laws that prohibit the malls from doing so.
And their non-Muslim tokens, sorry allies - like Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) are proven to be incapable of reining PAS’s extremism.
PN state assemblymen have been subpar in their efforts to provide checks and balances to the state government on a myriad of issues - except for Seberang Jaya assemblyman Izhar Shah Arif Shah. Apart from water issues, land reclamation projects and Islamic affairs, the PN assemblymen could not do much to keep Komtar in check.
PAS-PN’s politics and their vision of how a society should be run are incompatible with a state like Penang that takes pride in its rich multiracial identity. The state deserves opposition parties that celebrate its diversity and could champion progressive, moderate politics.
This is where Muda comes into the scene.
What should Muda be doing in Penang now?
Before I go further, I need to state clearly here that I am in no way accusing Muda of being completely absent in Penang. The party is still here, and it has been helping the public in times of disaster such as the floods that hit Penang last year through aid missions and would occasionally issue statements on the happenings in Penang and also the country.
However, I view that the party should be doing more to make its case for representation in Penang now. There are Penangites (especially non-Malays) who are unhappy about the state of politics and public policies in Penang, but they could not bring themselves to support PN, whose politics are antithetical to their values. Penang Muda should be keeping their eyes on these undecided voters.
Penang Muda’s leadership cadre should publicise its stances on local issues in Penang such as the state’s obsession with building more roads that would pave the way (no pun intended here) for more traffic congestion, public transportation issues, local council elections, land reclamation policies, fishermen affairs, green spaces, hillside developments, heritage preservation, food security issues, poor urban planning, pollution, and hardcore poverty problem in the state.
At the end of the day, a sound, realistic manifesto for Penang should be formulated from the party's research on these issues.
State party leaders should utilise their social media accounts by regularly posting commentary videos on any policies introduced by the state, and provide constructive suggestions on how Komtar can improve its quality of service delivery as the state opposition instead of merely acting as armchair critics.
Compliment the policies if they are good, and call them out if they are bad. There should be no room for self-censorship from Muda on this matter. You have free speech rights, use it as long as your commentaries are factual and not defamatory.
Penang Muda leaders should also attend state legislative sittings as observers and closely follow public interest issues raised throughout the sessions, which are a goldmine for content creation on policy discussions if they can play the game well.
Addittionally, the party should also continue networking with the existing civil society groups. It should engage with well-established NGOs like ALIRAN, Penang Forum, Penang Heritage Trust, JEDI Network for Ecology and Climate, Penang Forum and Consumer Association of Penang.
Muda should utilise the avenues that these groups could offer by co-hosting public forums that would help promote MUDA to Penangites. They should be able to send representatives to speak up on state issues on forums hosted by these groups.
In fact, I would take a step further by suggesting that the party host a well-publicised physical forum so that Penangites can listen to what the party can offer to the state, first-hand. The party should also network with business and local trade associations, which can help it formulate realistic economic development policies that are also in line with social democratic ideas.
Focus more on Penang
Of course, national issues are important, but Penang Muda has to leave it to its top brass - particularly acting president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz and founder and Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman—to speak up on them. Penang Muda leaders should focus more on addressing state issues.
Additionally, the party needs to conduct more fundraising events and seek donors who are not tainted to put the party in a bad spotlight.
Last but not least, the party should be working on creating the best candidates to contest in seats suitable for Muda to penetrate. I have to be honest here, the party has erred by fielding problematic candidates in the 2023 state elections which landed it in hot soup. Muda cannot afford to repeat this mistake.
If Penang MUDA can accomplish all these things, I am optimistic that the party will be able to win some seats in Penang after a few election cycles.
Yes, the party would have to go through a long, tumultuous journey to be elected in the state. They would have to brace for repeated election losses to come to a point where their candidates would be elected to the state assembly, or even at the Dewan Rakyat.
I would advise Muda to look up to Penang DAP, which went through such a journey as an underdog facing the behemoth that was Gerakan-Barisan Nasional for decades. Thanks to the resilience shown by leaders such as the late Karpal Singh, Kit Siang, Chow Kon Yeow, Chong Eng, and Phee Boon Poh, the party has now become an unshakable political force in this state.
Penang MUDA needs to learn from DAP if it wants to play the long game and survive in Penang. Winning a seat or two in the state assembly would not be a piece of cake, but it would be a worthy struggle.
After all, Penangites need them. It is just that they have yet to see what the new Penang MUDA is all about, and the party has yet to show them.
So to Penang Muda, I have this to say: the ball is in your court. Act now.
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