NATIONAL YOUTH DAY 2026: MALAYSIAN YOUTH CAN NO LONGER LIVE IN DENIAL

Every year on 15 May, we celebrate National Youth Day. This year carries the theme “Empowering MADANI Youth.” It sounds inspiring in speeches, seminars, and official posters. However, the more important question is — do we truly understand what young people are actually going through today?

For far too long, we have celebrated slogans while speaking too little about reality.

The truth is, the world is changing at an extremely rapid pace. Geopolitical crises, economic wars, technological advancements, artificial intelligence (AI), uncertainty in the job market, and the rising cost of living are drastically reshaping the lives of young people. Those who fail to adapt will continue to be left behind. Even more worrying, many Malaysian youths are entering adulthood in emotionally, mentally, and financially fragile conditions.

We can no longer deceive ourselves by pretending that everything is fine.

One of the greatest challenges facing Malaysian youth today is resilience. Many young people are not lazy — they are exhausted. Exhausted from surviving in a world that is becoming increasingly expensive, competitive, and uncertain. They grew up during a pandemic, within an unstable economy, and amid an aggressive digital explosion. They live under constant pressure to succeed, yet at the same time are not provided with strong enough support systems.

We often hear remarks such as “young people today are weak,” “they cannot handle hardship,” or “they are too selective about jobs.” Such views are deeply unfair. Many youths today actually work harder than previous generations, yet the returns they receive are far smaller.

The cost of living crisis has become one of the biggest daily pressures. Housing prices are rising. Food prices are rising. Transportation costs are rising. Yet starting salaries remain disappointing. Many graduates and young workers are merely surviving despite working full-time jobs. Some are forced to take on two jobs. Some postpone marriage. Others continue living with their parents longer because they simply cannot afford to live independently.

What is even more frustrating is that society still enjoys blaming youths for being “bad at managing finances,” when in reality the economic system itself is becoming increasingly unfriendly toward young people.

At the same time, the job market is becoming increasingly suffocating. Young people face numerous barriers in obtaining stable and dignified employment. Many entry-level positions demand two to three years of experience. Many companies expect workers to multitask while offering minimum wages. Automation and artificial intelligence are beginning to replace basic jobs. Competition is no longer limited to Malaysians alone — it is now global.

We must also honestly admit that the country’s education and training systems are still not adapting quickly enough to industrial changes. Many youths are still being trained for yesterday’s jobs while the world moves rapidly toward future careers. As a result, many young people are losing confidence in their own future.

Today’s youth are living with silent anxiety.

They fear failure. They fear instability. They fear being unable to support their families in the future. They fear becoming a generation that works for an entire lifetime yet still cannot afford to own a home.

Housing instability is becoming increasingly alarming. A home is no longer merely a shelter — it represents life stability. Yet for many young people, owning a house now feels like an impossible dream. Housing prices continue to rise much faster than income growth. As a result, many are forced to continue renting in unstable conditions or living far away from workplaces simply to reduce living costs.

At the same time, the digital world has created a new form of pressure that is rarely discussed seriously — digital anxiety. Social media today is no longer just a communication tool. It has become a nonstop arena of life comparison. Young people constantly see the “success” of others on their screens — new cars, prestigious jobs, luxurious vacations, and seemingly perfect lifestyles — while many themselves are silently struggling.

This digital pressure causes many youths to feel like failures even when they are actually working very hard. Excessive exposure to negative content, social pressure, and comparison culture has a major impact on the mental well-being of the younger generation.

More critically, we now have a generation that is highly “connected” digitally but increasingly disconnected on a human level. Many youths have thousands of social media followers but do not have a safe space to express their real struggles.

Therefore, in conjunction with National Youth Day 2026, all parties must stop viewing youth merely as statistics or political tools. Youth are not campaign materials. Youth are not merely programme targets. They are a generation carrying enormous pressure in an increasingly unstable world.

The government must be bolder in reforming employment, housing, and youth social protection policies. Industries must stop pursuing cheap young labour without building healthy career ecosystems. Educational institutions must be more honest about the realities of future jobs. And society must stop belittling the struggles of today’s younger generation.

If we truly want to “MENGGERAK BELIA MADANI,” then we must begin by listening to the real realities faced by young people today.

Because today’s youth do not lack potential. They have simply been forced for too long to survive within a system that continues to weaken them.