Msian student leaders in the UK: Here's what you can do in the next 2 days

Look, I get it. It's spring.

You're probably on some holiday with your friends in Europe, enjoying your escape from the cold breeze. Perhaps looking at another old, beautiful, and historically significant building. If only your friends in Malaysia can see your face obstructing part of it...

Don't worry they will. It will be through an Instagram story.

What if you're not on some holiday in Europe? You have exams, right? Well lucky you that's almost one month away with no classes to attend. Imagine...almost a month to prep!

You need to put that phone away though if you're gonna concentrate. It may take up one hour of your day and that's me being generous. Let's say that one hour is wasted on entertainment time. Now if you were anything like me, and you tried studying for that one hour, you'll be shocked at the amount of work you can do.

Lucky we have 24 of those. Take away 8-10 because we need our sleep and maybe deduct 4 more hours for (let's be honest here) actual study time and we still have 10. Take away another 3 hours for eating, shitting and what not, and we have 7.

Now, where will these 7 hours go? That's the question I am here to ask you.

If you're a student not involved with your Malaysian Society, then turn away, I have no qualms with how you spend those 7 hours. (at least for the purposes of this blog post)

But if you were elected as a student leader with the responsibility to represent your members, then you and I need to talk real quick because what you do with those 7 hours in the next 2 days is probably going to be more important than you think.

840 minutes (14 hours)

Look, I'm not here to judge you for what you do in your free time and I'm not here to limit your discretion as to how you should fulfil your responsibility as a student leader using the mandate that has been granted to you. After all, I was in your position only 3 years ago.

What I'm about to do instead, if you are entertaining the possibility of doing something, is to pitch an idea to you about what you and your society can do in those 14 hours.

Don't worry, it's not a lot. Just three simple things.

1. Sign this petition (https://goo.gl/AXDa13) and share it with your members

2. Apply for postal voting and encourage your members to do so (steps on how to do so can be found here)

3. Make an official statement on the Anti-Fake News Bill or join one

While the first two tasks may be relatively straightforward to perform and will probably take only a maximum of 15 minutes of your time, the third task is perhaps understandably a little more complicated.

As such, I've provided a template for you to use. Whether you trust this template on not, is entirely up to you but do note that it is based on KPUM's official statement on the matter (which if you haven't given a read yet, please do, as it's a reliable and comprehensive statement that is a good starting point if you aren't familiar with the issue).

The template can be found here: goo.gl/oX7SW3

Now, I've heard that an official statement from UKEC is coming soon. If you don't want to make the statement yourself, you could get your society to join an official statement that has already been made.

OK, so let's say you have made a statement or join an existing one. Who do you give it to?

There are a few options and you can do a combination of them:

1. Hand it to UKEC for them to either share or present to whoever they plan to give or present their statement to.

2. Email it to Dato Seri Azalina binti Othman Said at aos@pd.jaring.my / donhezry@gmail.com

3. Email it to the press.

For the third option, you could email it to various news portals (Free Malaysia Today, Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insight, Star Online, Malay Mail Online). Their emails can be found online and are usually editor@_________.com.

Your email subject should be: OPINION/ LETTER <insert relevant title>

Write your Society name as well as your name, address and contact number at the top of the email and then include your statement in the email.

Still unsure if you ought to take action?

If you are still sitting on the fence, it's most likely because of the following reasons:

1. Lack of belief in your mandate as a student leader

2. Refusal to be political

3. Not important/ Support the Bill

REASON 1

I think there may be a belief on the part of certain student leaders, that any action you take especially if it involves a political move requires a survey to gauge the opinion of your members. While this is admittedly a very democratic move, it is also a move that is not very time efficient and is a move that perhaps shows a lack of understanding of the mandate you have been given.

While gauging the opinions of your members is certainly a good way to ensure that you truly represent their interests, it should also be understood on your part, that you already possess the mandate to make decisions on behalf of those you represent. You were elected for a reason and while some may argue that only a certain percentage of your members were involved in your election, this argument does not hold much weight when you take a look at elections on a larger scale such as the General Election. Just because the entire population of the country does not turn up to vote does not mean that our Prime Minister does not have the mandate to perform his duties.

Having to seek out the opinions of your members on every issue is counter productive and if you take into consideration the challenges that may be faced in trying to reach out to your members, the best move on certain occasions is to perhaps exercise your own discretion as to how the interests of your members should be best served.

I'm not suggesting that this should be done on every occasion but on an issue such as the Anti-Fake News bill, which is widely considered to be a controversial issue across the board that involves the interests of your members, a discretion on your part as well on the part of your working committee to take a stand should be exercised.

Numbers certainly help but if you are short on time, it's best to make the statement first.

REASON 2

There's a huge difference between supportive of political party and being political. The latter is often necessary if you seek to bring about any sort of change or to protect the interests or fundamental rights of your members.

There is nothing in law that prevents you (students in the UK) from being political or partisan. You are not within the jurisdiction of the UUCA.

Yes, there may be an argument that the interests of government-sponsored students should be protected. However, I highly doubt that taking a stand against the Anti-Fake News Bill would affect these students. Your society is not being asked to protest on the streets or whatever. The issue is one that should cut across the political spectrum.

A question that must be asked is whether a refusal on your part to take action is really one that is borne out of apathy or fear. Be honest with yourself and do not confuse the apathy of your members with fear (although the former may often be a by-product of the latter). If it is the former, then the next question that must be asked is why?

Why choose to be apathetic? Look at the issue and honestly ask yourself if it is an issue that you should be apathetic about.

A majority of your members will return to Malaysia and they will definitely be affected by the passing of the Anti-Fake News Legislation. There's no denying that.

Even if you don't return to Malaysia, keep in mind that the law has extra-territorial effect. As long as you hold a Malaysian passport (which you would still have to hold for a few years regardless of your plans), the law would be applicable to you. Consider plans by other countries to implement an anti-fake news legislation and it may daunt on you that this is an issue that you cannot simply run from.

REASON 3

Now, if you read up about the issue, thought a lot about it and reached a decision to support the legislation, then I suppose there's nothing much I can say to change your mind.

Perhaps you have convinced yourself that the legislation is necessary, taking into consideration the ongoing fake news debacle throughout the world.

Maybe you are right. A law needs to be implemented on these issues.

But is that law the current proposed Anti-Fake News bill?

If you have a sliver of doubt within you, you can hide it from me but you can't hide it from yourself.

You can't deny that more time and deliberation is needed to legislate on a matter such as this. Is one and a half days of Parliamentary debate really enough (not factoring out all the pointless shouting or commentary that some of our Members of the Parliament will no doubt make)?

I and many others have already said our piece on the issue.

It is now a matter for you to decide if you should as well.

CONCLUSION