Question: Reflect on youth apathy towards politics. Draw on examples from China, the United States and Singapore in your reflections.

Political apathy means to be lacking interest and concern in politics, showing indifference to political processes and that caring about progress in politics shall be the last priority in one’s life. It is known that young people have depressingly low levels of political interest and knowledge. Politics, the way the world works, is something done to the youth generation (Generation Z?), over which they have no control and want no control. Politicians are often viewed by young people as being out-of-touch, rich, old, upper-class and even uncaring about issues affecting the young. Youth like me feel cut-off through the age of politicians and alienated from government politics.

In my opinion, the youth’s apathy in politics does not only abject laziness; it also represents something that all young people will grow out of once they get older and more responsible, but part of a broader, and international, drift away from traditional politics. Regrettably, participation in politics is no longer part of the fabric of everyday life, something which I will do without questioning its importance. I have realised it has become many youth’s “lifestyle choice”; a decision that may carry barely more weight than clothes they wear and music they listen to.

Political apathy is quite a common phenomenon in many countries, such as America and our dear Singapore. Note that I do not mention China; and I shall explain my reasons in another paragraph. Based on the numerous guided discussions in class and the case studies we came upon in the tutorials, I realise that political apathy can only be present in a stable and prosperous nation. To put it more specifically, the level of political apathy is directly proportional to the well-bring of the nation.

Arguments I am going to put forth for Singaporeans apply for Americans to a certain extent as well.

For me, I am proud and, at the same time, worried to say that Singapore is the perfect example for the right-end of the spectrum. It is undoubtable that Singapore is a developed nation, our economy is heavily-reliant on exports, and fortunately or perhaps unfortunately we have a very reliable and trustworthy government. This is very evident in how they reacted fast and appropriately to the economic crisis this year.

Given that our lives have largely remained untouched even in this global economic crisis, the impression that we can well continue in such a form of governance is reinforced among Singaporean youths like me. Moreover, though Singapore is a small country, we have good and peaceful diplomatic ties with all other countries, thereby ensuring a good stable life for most of us. Thus we won’t bother to question the PAP’s soft authoritarian rule simply because we have nothing much to complain (except on the issue of freedom of speech which I do not really feel so strongly about it).

Why are Singaporean youths not interested in politics then? Based on my observation in the media in Singapore, political participation of youths is not publicized; the state controlled media of Singapore rarely feature youths whom are politically active, do you agree with this? The media turns a deaf ear towards the youth who actively participate in politics. I have also noticed that the media only showcases and propagates youth to join the Young PAP. The youth wings of other political parties have gone unheard by the media. In fact, they are indispensable.

Personally, reason why I refuse to participate in area of politics is because of political correctness; it has made me more fearful of opening up in public. I have always thought that without any proper education in political theory, youths are pressured to make politically correct statements if they are involved in political activities. Deterrence it may be, parents of many youths also prevent their children from involving in politics and as a result, the youths tend to shun politics because of the ramifications such as libel suits.

The conditioning of young minds through the education system that
Singapore is a free society is no longer a fact in reality as we do witness many youths getting in trouble for criticizing the government. Recently three teenagers were sent for questioning primarily due to sending out pamphlets about staging a protest during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in
Singapore, for example. On the other hand, the youths in
Singapore are very enthralled by the comfortable lifestyles they have so much so they are not bothered about their own country in which they would be the future leaders of.

Another reason would be that the politics is not like ‘pop culture’ for entertainment; it consists of heavy subject matter and may be boring. We would have heard many of our fellow friends engrossed in the recent World Cup or the latest trends fashion, but never interested in discussing politics. Possibly, the only reason is because politics is a dry and boring subject.

This does not only reflects, the shallowness of the society but also the lack of maturity of a global citizen which Singapore aspires to be.

Looking backing in youth participation in politics in Singapore, it is indeed worrying given current situations. Most people do not even know who their ministers are (I am guilty to be one of them), let alone having the passion to take stepping into the political arena as their goal. We are not too concerned over how future leaders are going to be trained, nor are we very critical of the governmental system. As long as our standard of life does not drop too much, we are pretty much contented. However, it is impossible that such political apathy would create suitable conditions for training future politicians. It is hard to imagine what PAP will be like when there are no capable leaders like Mr Lee Kwan Yew and Mr Goh Chok Tong. It is even more unthinkable if PAP is unable to satisfy the needs of the people and there are no viable alternatives.

Now to China, I believe that Chinese youths are not politically apathetic simply because politics is a taboo; in fact, I think they are actually enthusiastic and well-informed on political issues. The youths in China actually participate actively in online forums regarding the policies that the Hu administration implements. They are really more knowledgeable in current affairs than Americans and Singaporeans. Moreover, the very fact that young netizens create softwares to break the internet firewall shows that they are determined to protect their rights to talk about sensitive political issues. Hence, political apathy should not be measured by what we see on the surface but instead by what we feel within the hearts of the youths. The tutorial on China also proves my theory. As there has been much corruption and limited freedom, the majority of Chinese could not enjoy the kind of life they desire; hence it is only logical that they will not be apathetic toward politics since they are eager to see a change.

Are all the youths apathetic? I beg to differ. In my opinion, there is actually an increase in the number of youths who are politically active. Though the increase is not very insignificant, it is substantial. Many youths are not very politically inclined; they are indeed oblivion to the political situation in their own country. The fact that they choose not to get involved indicates not a mass attitude problem on the part of young people, but the deathly state of contemporary politics. The modern political process is shifting from parties catering for classes and broad groups of people to parties providing for all people. Whilst young people may be generally apathetic towards political parties, they are far more engaged with the modern political process - one which isn't the same as politics several decades ago.

Is youth’s apathy a bad thing after all? Young people’s disengagement with politics is indisputable, but how much of a problem is this, really? So what if young people’s attitude to politics is ‘so what’? Surely it is important to take an interest in politics to uphold a democratic and just society. Surely it is imperative to understand the political culture of our city state. But perhaps it’s not. Perhaps it’s best for politicians to deal with politics, and for young people in particular to enjoy the time they have, the privileges we all have when we are young.

¶ 4:15 AM