How young people can create change without waiting for genuine leadership

By John Fong

I was 25 when I first came to know Aliran, after graduation and following Malaysia’s dramatic 2018 general election.

Fast forward five years, and my official classification as “youth” ends next year.

While I can’t speak for all young people, I believe many of us still share similar sentiments.

Some were hopeful and energised. Others couldn’t be bothered with what happened in the 2018 election and in the years that followed – the government coup, the pandemic and everything else.

The youth were divided not just by class or income. We were also divided by the type of education we received, the personalities we carried, the interests we pursued, the pop cultures we followed and our surrounding environment.

These divisions often make it harder for older generations to truly understand us. Too often, we are generalised as always hopeful, energetic and eager to change the world. But that is only one group among many.

Social scientists should know better: communities are shaped by different conditions and circumstances, not bound by a single narrative.

Half a decade of my youth has been, in some way, dedicated to Aliran’s cause. This was sustained by the hope that change was possible. My own hopefulness peaked in 2019, the year I discovered Aliran during my master’s programme.

Over time, that journey inspired me to write this newsletter. It’s part reflection, part advice for those who, like me back then, were hopeful that change was within reach. Perhaps these words can help you chart a path where that hope does not dissolve into illusion.

I must also thank my Consider This team at Astro Awani. I will be drawing on our interview with Vijay Prashad — Indian historian, journalist and executive director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research. He’s also chief correspondent for Globetrotter and co-author of books with Noam Chomsky. This interview serves as a framework for this commentary.

Void of genuine leadership globally

We often hear the claim that “youth leaders will pave the way for a better future”. But I can’t help but ask – why are young people still only regarded as leaders of tomorrow?

Meanwhile today’s global leadership is dominated by those unwilling to relinquish power. Prime ministers, presidents and chief executive officers are not getting younger. Many of them remain in office until illness or old age forces them out. Some former leaders are even willing to return after decades in power, as if no new leadership can emerge without them.

We could, of course, offer quotas or create special positions for youth to ensure they have a voice. But human nature being what it is, these opportunities would likely be exploited. Such positions could end up filled by “nepo babies” – the privileged offspring of the elite and oligarchs – or by individuals who lack the capacity to lead meaningfully.

The youth are incredibly diverse, like the fabric of society itself. In this context, genuine leadership is scarce. Even when genuine leaders emerge, they are rarely given a chance to lead, or their leadership is reduced to token gestures. Why is this the case?

Leadership comes with power and wealth – two forces that, in the global context, are clearly defined and coveted. Presidents, prime ministers and even small-scale political representatives often have access to power and wealth that can last a lifetime.

With such temptations on the table, how can anyone remain truly genuine?

How do we create leadership that resists corruption and the unethical accumulation of wealth?

Better yet, how can true leaders use their power and access to capital to empower all of us? (Please don’t make it a token gesture of dispersing small amounts of cash or wealth to appease us.)

We are witnessing the rise of fanatical leaders in this era of growing right-wing politics, evolving capitalism and expanding military power responding to human-made threats. The great leaders of the past – if they were truly great – would have surely left us in a better place. Yet here we are, in the midst of a global mess.

Young people yearn for decent guidance from leaders, but we’ve received little –not only from our national leaders but also from our communities.

Unfortunately, genuine leadership seems to be in short supply. Without it, there’s no one to leave an enduring legacy for us to carry forward.

Creating a remedy for this may be impossible. But perhaps there are ways to find comfort in the face of this void — ways of living without genuine leadership.

To exist is to build things

In the Consider This interview with Vijay Prashad, he spoke about the importance of self-sufficiency. This means producing your own food or even simple necessities like soap, biscuits and toothpaste, rather than relying on imports or others.

For him, resistance is not only about protests. True resistance begins with learning to do things yourself, feeding yourself and resisting the lure of consumerism.

Applied to our context, this idea of resistance requires us to rethink self-sufficiency. For us, it doesn’t necessarily mean learning to cook or grow our own food – after all, our food culture is abundant and accessible almost around the clock.

Instead, self-sufficiency should matter most for graduates in the arts, humanities and social sciences – among the most abundant fields in our higher education system. These fields often leave students vulnerable if they are not equipped with broader, more adaptable skills.

Our public universities should play a role. Yet, as they remain trapped in a feudal and bureaucratic system, real reform seems distant. Of course, we don’t need that many graduates in these fields. Many of these students should have been placed in skills-based courses instead. But that is a matter of education policy, which I’m not involved in.

Which is why arts, humanities and social sciences graduates must take the initiative to be multi-disciplinary. Don’t only pursue what you already know, what feels comfortable, or what you could predict the outcome of.

Step outside your field. Learn something you’ve avoided or thought irrelevant during your education. These new skills could span health, technology or other sciences – areas often kept separate from the arts. The key is to challenge yourself with knowledge that contradicts or stretches what you’ve already learnt.

We cannot keep producing tens of thousands of graduates in the humanities and social sciences every year without equipping them with complementary skills. Unlike graduates from technical programmes, they risk being left behind if they cannot diversify.

To diversify, to become self-sufficient, is to resist. With broader skills, we can better champion humanistic causes – whether it’s responding to humanitarian crises in, for example, Myanmar and Palestine or standing against injustice at home.

Self-sufficiency gives us options. It allows us to act without relying entirely on others, companies or governments.

For me, this is effective resistance. The path will never be easy, but perhaps it can ease the anxiety of living in a world without genuine leadership.

John Fong
Co-editor, Aliran newsletter
9 September 2025

John Fong is an Aliran executive committee member.

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama

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