The Sabah elections will be held on November 29th, with nominations on Nov 15th, and early voting November 25th. With recent graft whistleblower videos and corruption allegations, Sabah’s politics face yet another credibility test at the hands of the electorate. On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks with
00:00Hi, welcome back to Consider This, I'm Melissa Idris.
00:13Sabah's upcoming elections is not just a political contest, it's also a test of civic participation.
00:20How will young voters respond to this election, especially amid of ongoing issues such as the
00:27Zahra Kairina case, as well as allegations of corruption among government officials in Sabah.
00:33But joining me now to discuss this weather is Prisca Magdalena Senem, who is the lead for
00:39Hai Mandat, which is a grassroots youth movement in Sabah. Prisca, welcome to the show, thank you
00:45so much for joining us today. Maybe you can begin by telling us a little bit about how Hai Mandat
00:51began, you know, who started it, what prompted you to launch this campaign. And in fact, why don't
00:56you begin by telling us, what does Hai Mandat, Hai Mandat tu maksud dia apa? What does it
01:00mean? Okay, hello. Hi, thank you for inviting us. Melissa, thank you Awani for inviting us
01:07Hai Mandat. So, in a short, Hai Mandat basically means Hai Sumandat or Hai Ladies. It was often
01:15called in Sabah lah, when, especially in Dusun, we call ladies as Sumandat, especially not married
01:22ladies lah. So, we shortened the Hai Mandat, Hai Sumandat tu Hai Mandat. So, it sounds catchy
01:29and Gen Z lah. And we really wanted it to sound Sabahan. So, that's why we call it Hai Mandat.
01:35So, it's a secara singkat, apa tu Hai Mandat lah, maksud Hai Mandat. So, how we started?
01:41Bagaimana kami bermula sebenarnya adalah, sebenarnya kami cuma lah kawan-kawan lah. Kawan-kawan
01:47yang kenal di daerah kami sendiri sebenarnya ada Helvina, Suriana, and Cindy lagi lah selain daripada
01:54Prisca. So, kami bermula melalui idea yang kami nampak, oh di Sabah ada ramai influencer, especially young
02:02young influencer lah. Tapi kami realise tidak ada influencer yang betul-betul bawa isu-isu
02:08tentang Sabah lah, dari konteks, perspektif Gen Z. So, that's why we started Hai Mandat in this
02:15February. We just started this year sebenarnya. So, we really excited to share about Sabahan, about Gen Z
02:24in Sabah, how we think, how we see the issue in Sabah, and how we hope to see more changes
02:31in Sabah lah, in our perspective.
02:34So, I know Hai Mandat ada beberapa objectives. So, I think a few of the things you have talked
02:40about is the unaffordable travel for Sabah. The tickets to come home are so expensive. You talk about political
02:49literacy. So, tell me a little bit about what Hai Mandat is doing and what you hope to achieve
02:56through your content.
02:58Okay. Thank you. So, what we currently doing adalah, pertama, campaign Anak Sabah Balik Mengundi, which we
03:05really need a lot of support lah from, I believe, bukan Sabahan sejak, but also Malaysian lah yang lain.
03:12Because this year, more than 50%, which is specifically 54% adalah pengundi belia. So,
03:21kamilah kingmaker sebenarnya untuk PRN Sabah Tahuni. So, that's why we launched campaign Anak Sabah
03:27Balik Mengundi. Because a lot of Sabahan, more than 200,000 ataupun 400,000 update terkini berada di
03:35luar Sabah. So, that's a huge number, right? So, a lot of them cannot afford to
03:40balik untuk mengundi disebabkan the airline ataupun tiket kos untuk pulang saja boleh
03:46mencecah lebih daripada RM1,000. So, realizing that kami pun melalui kapasiti kami yang kecil
03:54berusaha untuk membawa seramai mungkin lah anak Sabah untuk balik mengundi. So, our target was at least
04:00100 young voters lah. At least 100, 50 daripada luar negeri Sabah, 50 dari dalam negeri Sabah lah
04:09untuk balik mengundi. Itu usaha kami sekarang. And our target is at least 60,000 lah. But for now,
04:15as for now, for today, we only reach around 7,000. So, we really need help from all
04:21Malaysian lah to help Sabahan, to bring back our kingmakers lah to vote for this year.
04:26So, kalau ada orang yang nak sponsor, boleh pergi ke website Hang Manda ya?
04:31Yeah, true. So, we don't have any website. So, oh yeah, fun fact, we are not an NGO.
04:36We really, kami memang cuma gerakan kawan-kawan yang, we wanted to do something lah for Sabahan. As a Sabahan kan.
04:43So, boleh terus pergi ke TikTok, Instagram, Facebook kami. Kami ada post-poster di situ dan we update everything there.
04:50And you can just scan our QR ataupun get our bank detail di situ lah. And we are not using our personal account, no.
04:57So, we are using a club lah for our fundraising.
05:01Okay. So, your social media pun ada, kelas kau ada kuasa bahar dan juga 30 hari, 30 content PRN.
05:09Betul, betul.
05:10Talk to me a little bit about some of the political literacy topics you cover. Also, what kind of content is resonating
05:17dengan Yang Sabahan today?
05:19So, okay. So, I realise, I believe this is not only for Yang Sabahan lah. But I realise the pattern of nowadays,
05:27Gen Z lebih suka content yang berunsurkan edutainment lah. So, that's how we roll lah for our 30 hari, 30 content PRN.
05:38Yeah, that's what we do. So, what we share is as simple as basic as, apa itu dun? Apa itu adun? As simple as, apa beza PRN dan PRU?
05:50Because this is the reality. A lot of, I believe not only Sabahan lah, but a lot of pengundi muda kurang literasi politik sebenarnya.
06:01Because, I'm quoting this from, selepas undi 18 dilancarkan, ada satu penyelidikan yang mengatakan, literasi politik among youths are very low.
06:11So, we realise, it's important not only to bring them back, but also to give them the tools for them to not only mengundi, but mengundi untuk mengundi,
06:21but also mengundi dan tahulah konsekuens of dorang punya undi.
06:26Betul, yeah. Macam Kairul Amin punya 30-an.
06:29Yes, that's the idea. Betul, betul, betul.
06:32Betul. So, based on what you have observed, what are some of the issues that are resonating dengan pengundi muda Sabah sekarang?
06:40I'm just wondering, sebab kita ada kes Zairah Karina, masih lagi di mahkamah, ada lots of the video allegations of corruption coming out.
06:49What are young people talking about, Priska, if I may ask you?
06:53So, it's a bit daunting lah, because a lot of young Sabahan, they, I would say, feel like they don't feel hope lah sangat sebenarnya, hopeful.
07:07But, that's why we do Kelas Kau Ada Kuasa Ba. So, basically, it's a political literacy punya kelas, but we name is Kau Ada Kuasa Ba,
07:15because we wanted to empower youths, and we wanted them to realise that in this democracy, in Malaysia, the power should be from us lah, the rakyat,
07:25for young children itself. So, that's why kami rebrand kelas kami kepada Kelas Kau Ada Kuasa Ba.
07:31So, before this, the model was made by Mila, and memang inspirasi untuk tailor untuk Sabahan lah, specifically for Sabahan.
07:42I realised Kelas Kenegaraan sounds very classroom, so that's why I changed it to Kelas Kau Ada Kuasa Ba.
07:51So, we discussed lah, on one name, that catchy, and really have empowering meaning lah, so that's why.
07:57And, ya, memang anak muda sekarang agak rasa skeptic, and rasa agak kurang percaya lah, I would say, with PR, and I would say pengundian.
08:13But, that's what we do lah. We hope that from Kelas Kau Ada Kuasa Ba, and 30 hari, 30 content, they would feel empowered, and trust again lah, to vote.
08:25Yeah.
08:26Well, how do you intend for young people, pengundi muda Sabah yang, macam you kata, skeptic, and rasa kurang percaya dengan political system di Sabah?
08:37What message would you give to them, to make them believe yang dia ada kuasa?
08:43Lagi satu, what would you say to politicians? So, politicians yang underestimate the importance of the youth turnout.
08:50You kata, 54% pengundi muda, pengundi belia. So, what would you say to the politicians who don't believe in the importance of the youth vote?
09:02Okay. Support the politicians. So, I believe, Malaysia ataupun Sabah lah, the future is in, is for us, and it relies on us, because we are more than 50%, man.
09:18So, I believe, if you wanted to empower Sabah, you need to empower the youths.
09:23Kena empower youths. Kena mendengarlah suara daripada belia. Sebab masa depan Sabah sama dengan masa depan belia.
09:32Ataupun masa depan belia juga bergantung kepada orang-orang yang mau sama-sama membangun belia Sabah lah.
09:39So, I hope, if you really want us to be involved, and if you really want us to be part of changes in Sabah, I think you should take us seriously lah.
09:52Our vote seriously and our voices seriously. Because I believe, this year I can see a lot of movement from youths itself.
10:00So, kenapa tidak invest in belia? I believe Sabahan punya youths have a lot of potentials. I believe a lot of Sabahan sebenarnya ada talent-talent yang bagus.
10:11So, why not invest in youths? Why not invest? Why don't you believe in youths lah? Because at the end of the day, who's gonna cover you after us?
10:21Kami kan juga. So, yeah. Please.
10:24Priska, what kind of changes do you and maybe your peer go dengan belia, what are they hoping to see?
10:35So, when you say that you wish for more investment in youth, invest in belia, as you said just now, what kind of vision do you have for Sabah?
10:48What long-term reforms would you like to see for your home?
10:53I would love to see more platform for youths, but not just platform, bukan cuma nama, but like really youth-led punya platform lah. That's one thing.
11:05And another thing I wish, not wish lah, I hope to see more youths to be involved politically, but not in parties lah saja, but also politically in empowering other youths and also in voicing their ideas.
11:22Yeah. Without feeling any fear lah. Ataupun with confidence, I would say.
11:28Sekarang ni tak adakah? Tak ada platform sebegitukah?
11:31I would say ada, but a lot of it are more to political punya platform, I would say.
11:40Yeah. So, I would love to see more platform that is neutral and really, really, really, really wants belia to take lead lah. Not just nama lah, I would say.
11:55Okay. So, sekarang ni up to this point, what has been the reception, what kind of responses have you had for the movement of Haimanda?
12:04Okay, so far. So far, we have a lot of positive comments jugalah. A lot of support from the, oh yeah, I'm not against any generation yang sebelum ni.
12:16Because we see a lot of them are cheering for us sebenarnya juga. But at the same time, a lot of political sentiment were also played lah. A lot of them are trying to like undik this, undik that in our comment sections.
12:30And yeah, some of them are trying to politically like, oh, these people are from this party. These people are from this party. Sedangkan we are purely from belia lah. A group of belia yang betul-betul believe that belia should do something if we want to see changes.
12:47Wonderful. Prisca, thank you so much for joining me on the show, sharing some of your work on the ground with Haimanda. Please tell the Haimanda team hello for me and thank you for being on the show.
12:59Thank you, thank you. Thank you so much.
13:02That was Prisca Magnolina Senem from Haimanda. They're wrapping up this episode of Consider This. I'm Melissa Idris signing off for the evening. Thanks so much for watching and good night.
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