- 17 hours ago
Are young Malaysians being heard where it matters most? Umar Khaleed and Nadia Khadijah from AYSEF 2025 explore the need for youth to tackle today’s challenges through an interdisciplinary approach and why their voices must be at the heart of shaping the nation’s future.
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00:00Hello and welcome to It's About Youth with me, Fei Kuan.
00:12From the future of jobs to the energy transition and now all under the age of AI,
00:17young people are not just affected by these changes, they are central to them.
00:22However, a key question still remains.
00:24Are young people and young Malaysians truly being included in shaping the decisions that will affect their future?
00:31Today I speak with two young leaders about that.
00:33Joining me on the show are Umar Khalid, President of the ASEAN Youth Science and Economic Forum, also known as AYSEF 2025,
00:41and Nadia Khadija, Vice President of AYSEF 2025.
00:45Both of you, thank you so much for joining me today.
00:47Thank you for having us here.
00:49It's a pleasure to have you here.
00:51Firstly, a little bit of background for the audience about AYSEF.
00:54It started out as a STEM initiative, so science, tech, engineering and maths,
00:59a STEM-focused initiative that has since grown into more of a national platform
01:04that's including both Malaysian candidates and also people across ASEAN.
01:08Firstly, Umar, what sort of gaps do you think there is in Malaysia's youth ecosystem
01:14that made such a platform necessary in the first place?
01:17Thank you for that question, Fei.
01:18I think in AYSEF, first of all, our mission is to promote interdisciplinary thinking across Malaysian youth.
01:25I think in an age where AI is rapidly advancing, we believe young people should first build their interdisciplinary perspectives
01:33before specialising in their desired majors.
01:37This is because Malaysia's youth ecosystem has developed in separate tracks and silos.
01:42Young people often engage in STEM, economics, policy or social issues in isolation.
01:48While many are technically strong, there have been few spaces that bring these areas together
01:53or show how real national and regional decisions are made.
01:56I mean, not to mention our traditional approaches to how, I mean, I think coming from government schools especially,
02:05there has been a stigma in the sense where if you are, if you achieve like a very good results in your form trees,
02:11you should be going for STEM instead.
02:13And humanities is like, well, the leftovers.
02:16And because I come from a humanities background, but I think that is not really the case nowadays.
02:22I think it's more of an interest.
02:24At the same time, I think AYSEF was also built to bridge the youth ecosystem gap
02:29where the access to industry leaders, mentorship and meaningful networks is often concentrated among a small group of youth,
02:36especially those in the right circle or come from the privileged backgrounds.
02:41And yes, that combination of fragmentation and unequal access, it won't make a platform like AYSEF necessary.
02:48I mean, it's interesting how you point out, right, that gap and the sort of silos of science stream versus art stream,
02:55interdisciplinary is really the key word here.
02:57And I'd like to delve a little bit more into that.
02:59But firstly, Nadia, what do you think?
03:01In your opinion, what do you personally feel is missing in how young Malaysians are being prepared for the future economy?
03:08I think I just want to touch on what Umar mentioned just now.
03:11Interdisciplinary thinking was really the driver and the backbone of what AYSEF was meant to be for the youth of Malaysians
03:18and for ASEAN people in general.
03:20So I think, you know, going touching on Malaysia's education system, it's very much siloed in the sense where we have students
03:29going in the science stream that's often seen as more prestigious and then those students in the art stream are seen as undervalued.
03:35And so we wanted to break that barrier and that perception between these two students and these two categories, for example.
03:43So, you know, this also is reflected in broader issues in Malaysia in the sense where, you know, while we were doing research about AYSEF
03:53and just checking out the STEM education and financial literacy situation in our country,
03:59we realized that many students and parents in Malaysia still have low awareness and motivation about careers and opportunities in the STEM field.
04:09And so we wanted to change this narrative. And as well as that, we also realized that financial literacy remains a major problem in our country.
04:17Like despite the, you know, despite policies and initiatives being implemented, many young Malaysians still struggle with basic concepts like investing, responsible debt and like long-term financial planning.
04:30So at AYSEF, we wanted to include economics, so broaden our scope to include economics so that we could tackle and address these issues.
04:39And also to, you know, provide a platform where young people can understand the future economy more holistically rather than through fragmented disciplines.
04:46That's really interesting when you talk about that shifting these narratives and also raising awareness about these topics.
04:52It really comes from giving youth access to spaces such as AYSEF platforms such as this and amplifying their voices.
04:59And when we talk about youth empowerment, I think many young Malaysians really express a lot of dissatisfaction and talking about how they are locked out of these spaces.
05:08They're locked out of decision making. Omar, in your view, what does real empowerment here really look like?
05:14And how do we move beyond from slogans to real access?
05:19I personally think that real youth empowerment isn't just about giving them a voice or just for the sake of ticking a box of,
05:26yes, I've consulted a youth for this and things like that.
05:29I think it's beyond that and especially it's also about giving them the proper knowledge, exposure and experience for them to actually contribute something meaningful.
05:40Not just something that, oh, empowering them by including them to give a talk and things like that,
05:47but their ideas are not really delved into the real decision making of the policy making in the country.
05:53And being a youth shouldn't be a ticket to influence, but it should never be the reason that young people are locked out of meaningful opportunities
06:01or have their ideas not accepted or discredited just because of their age.
06:05And I think to move from slogans to real access, their key is to open up networks, mentorships and decision making space.
06:13We want to give them not just a voice, but rather the knowledge to say the right thing to actually help the country in terms of decision making.
06:22Because we do agree that Malaysian youth needs the space to actually speak, but we want to make sure that they speak the right and something that is knowledgeable.
06:31And platforms like AYSCF create those bridges where youth don't just participate, but they contribute and co-create alongside leaders.
06:39Because empowerment only begins when people are knowledgeable enough to actually say the things that are helpful, not just saying something so that is just an opinion.
06:50Understanding it's just not about representation anymore, right? Having youth at the table is not enough.
06:56Guiding them to make these informed decisions and amplifying their voices from a different perspective is the more important part here.
07:05So when it comes to AYSCF and including economics now, the economy and topics such as data, capital and energy.
07:16Do you think decisions around these issues are being made with enough youth input or is there something that's still missing from the conversation?
07:26I think youth input is becoming more increasingly considered. However, I do think that youth input should be made more earlier in the decision making process.
07:39So I think that's what is lacking currently in our country. Personally, for me, I think that youth is normally where our opinions are normally like taken into consideration during the outreach stage, not usually during the policy formulation stage.
07:55And I think that's where it all starts. It all starts with the beginning of, you know, when you're making a policy, it all starts from the very beginning.
08:02And so because of that, I think it limits the depth of youth influence in solving those topics that you mentioned just now from data governance to capital allocation and even energy transition.
08:14So, you know, that is really important because ultimately at the end of the day, it's going to be our generation that's going to be bearing the consequences of these policies and these issues if not implemented correctly.
08:26So I do believe that the one thing that is missing is co-creation between senior policymakers and the youth of today in shaping the country and shaping more progressive policies for Malaysia.
08:40And also we should steer the conversation, we should move the conversation more away from just youth representation, but towards capacity building.
08:52So that means, you know, not just seeing youth representation as something symbolic, but something that's credible and well informed.
08:59Umar, I see you nodding your head a lot to what Nadia said.
09:02I really agree with Nadia in the sense where youth in terms of just like the inputs needed for like the future itself, especially when it involves future industries.
09:13Because you shouldn't just be the observers of change, but they should be the ones driving it.
09:20And what's important is that we want them to be able to drive impactful change.
09:26And that only happens if they're knowledgeable enough.
09:29And I do understand that institutions wouldn't really want to, you know, adhere to certain opinions because they're just youth opinions.
09:37But if we are the one who's going to be driving these industries and we are going to be the one benefiting from it, I think we do deserve a seat at the table.
09:46But it shouldn't just be because we're youth, but we're credible youth.
09:49And as Nadia said, your generation is the one that's really there to bear the consequences, if not already bearing the consequences of decisions around these issues.
09:58Nadia, you also talked a little bit earlier about the lack of co-creation.
10:04That's interesting when you say that, because especially when it comes to artificial intelligence, AI, I think there's a lot of anxiety around the future of AI, how it's, you know, quote unquote, replacing jobs.
10:15But young people, however, have grown up in a digital age where they are constantly adapting to new technologies.
10:22And they may not see things or they may see things a little bit differently compared to policymakers.
10:27Do you think there's a disconnect then and also how you view AI and how it's being governed?
10:32That's a very good question. I think there is somewhat of a disconnect.
10:36But if we think about Malaysia as a whole and comparative to other nations, I think we're doing quite a good job at navigating through it more thoughtfully than other countries, for example.
10:45So I'll get into that more later. But personally for me, I think that the youth of today see AI less as a fear and more as a tool.
10:54And personally speaking, I use AI every single day of my life.
10:58And it's very helpful for me as I use it in my learning, in school, when it comes to learning new things or problem solving or even drafting emails or proposals and stuff like that.
11:08So yes, AI has its benefits, but at the same time, it has its downsides too.
11:13But with that, I really do believe that the power of education and awareness is hopefully sufficient enough to teach young people and young Malaysians to teach them to be able to distinguish between the differences of the risks and the potentials of AI.
11:31But as I mentioned, you know, there are risks that come with AI and that's why governance is key.
11:39So I think on the policy side and in terms of Malaysia, I think we're taking quite a balanced approach on AI because AI is actually not banned in schools.
11:47In fact, the Ministry of Education is integrating AI into the education system, which I think is a very good thing because it shows that, you know, our government has trust in the youth of today.
11:57The youth to make sure that we use AI in a proper manner.
12:02And I think that's really good. But then at the same time, regulation also matters because without a doubt, you're going to have people that are going to be misusing AI.
12:13Like take, for example, the recent news that came out about Grok.
12:17So Malaysia is one of two countries in the world to have banned Grok, for example.
12:22And I think that shows a very principled and protective stance that we have taken as a nation to protect the people in our country, especially safeguarding the interests of like women and children in Malaysia, which is something that is really important as AI continues to evolve and develop because we never know what it's going to be like in the future.
12:42So I think all in all, governance is equally important in regulating and managing how AI is used in our country.
12:52Thank you for that, Nadia. I think you really hit a spot there when you talk about not just fearing AI, but learning to adapt with it.
13:00If not, we fall behind, but being aware of the risks, how to use it effectively.
13:04It can be a very beneficial tool, especially for youths for today.
13:08But you mentioned Grok, and that's just one example of how AI is just or digitalization is advancing so rapidly, sometimes beyond our control.
13:18I'm curious to know from the both of you, what sort of skills or mindsets do you think young Malaysians need today to kind of actively participate in shaping economic and policy decisions of tomorrow?
13:29Um, Omar?
13:30Maybe I'll take that.
13:31Yeah.
13:32So I think, um, first of all, I think number one for Malaysian youth, the skills that we actually need for the future is actually number one for to always be curious, to always ask question assumptions,
13:45and, you know, examine the things that you read online and explore further than just what you're comfortable with and explore technology more than just surface or just like user level.
13:59And I think that's very important because the curiosity that we have builds innovation and the drive for us to explore things that we have never even explored.
14:08And number two is to have that interdisciplinary thinking as well as being agile.
14:13You have to be able to explore things that are not in your specialization.
14:18I mean, there's an English saying that jacks of all trades is a master of number.
14:22Then I think being a jack of all trades and a master in some areas, I think that actually helps because right now, as we, as AI advances,
14:31there's no way humans can actually keep up with the pace of how AI is growing in terms of content and speed.
14:37But what makes us different and what makes us very valuable is the fact of how we exercise our judgment and use that, that human judgment is very, very important.
14:46And number three is also being adaptable as we have to be able to continue to keep reskilling because jobs will change and the economy will always need a certain set of skills.
14:57I mean, before this, we needed maybe some website creator, but now Cloud AI can just replace that.
15:02And before this, maybe a clerk's job can now be simplified by using ChatGP to draft emails and things like that.
15:10So the act of continued reskilling is very, very important for Malaysian youth to stay relevant in today's economy.
15:17Nadia, do you have anything to add on?
15:19I wanted to add on the point about education now.
15:22I think education is really the most important foundation in impacting society because you can use your education to impact society because as you can translate your knowledge and your skills into making a meaningful impact in someone's life.
15:37So I think being well read on current affairs and economic issues and public policy is also another great way.
15:46It's a very simple way, but it's a really effective way of gaining genuine interest and feeling empowered to participate in the political and policy landscape in Malaysia.
15:57Alongside that, I also think, as Umar mentioned, being curious is very important.
16:03You know, to have that curiosity to challenge the status quo and to ask more questions because without that genuine interest, your participation in forming or shaping economic policies is going to seem more performative rather than purposeful.
16:19And personally speaking, I believe that experience is the most powerful teacher as you have to try these things out in order for you to learn and grow from them.
16:29It's okay to make mistakes, but you have to learn from those mistakes.
16:32And I think that is what me and Umar faced when we took on the role as president and vice president of AYSEF.
16:38So there were lots of things that went wrong, but lots of things that we also learned so much about ourselves and about how we work in the professional setting and in the environment where we have to deal with multiple stakeholders and people and to come up with an event at this large of a scale.
16:54Right. So personally for me, I was I found it very rewarding.
16:58And I also learned like a lot of new skills and things that I can take with me into the future, such as decision making under pressure and like being adaptable in different situations.
17:08And I think last but not least is to stay committed and resilient in what you believe and stand stand for.
17:16Because, I mean, let's we all see the news nowadays, you know, the political and policy ecosystem in Malaysia can be discouraging at times.
17:25It can be quite discouraging at times. So it's really important to stay grounded and true to what you believe in so that you can engage in these issues more critically instead of being cynical.
17:37Welcome back to It's About Youth where today in the studio I have with me Umar Khalid and Nadia Khadija from AYSEF.
17:55Now, earlier we were talking about the event and the skill of AYSEF and how it one unique aspect I think of of AYSEF is how it brings together science, economics, technology and policy altogether.
18:13It's a space for youths and policy makers to come and discuss current issues.
18:18Why do you think interdisciplinary that that has been the key word here?
18:22But why is this interdisciplinary approach crucial for solving today's challenges and especially in the ASEAN context? Umar?
18:31I think we live in a very fast changing world. And the content that we used to know can always be learned through AI will always be this in that sense. Like, I mean, in terms of content and speed of how we do things, I think AI is still going to win that sense.
18:51But having the interdisciplinary approach to things, it provides us the multiple point of views to approach them. And I think that's very, very important because we have to take into consideration that, um, let's say if I were to be a policy maker, I mean, from an external view, it might be easy, but then when you sit in the actual shoes, you can actually think that, oh, actually, it's actually not actually, the capital is not enough and things like that.
19:17And you would like to, as someone who loves ideas and love, uh, love to actually have these things done, but the practicality itself is actually another view that you have to build.
19:27And let's say if you were to have, uh, to build projects and stuff like that, I think, um, when you are able to view things from a multiple POV, I think that helps to build the resilience in a sense where Malaysians are not able to train in one direction, but rather they consider the whole aspect of what they're actually doing.
19:47going towards and, um, um, because right now we, I think it's because of how we actually also approach AI, if I may touch on that is because if we approach AI as something that we're scared of, and we are, we feel that it's going to replace us, then it might, it might as well happen actually.
20:03But if we take it as something that's going to help us and we, we use it as a tool for us to keep reskilling and things like that, to build that sort of thinking because AI can, AI is something that you can, they, they, they train through LLMs and stuff like that.
20:16But in terms of thinking, humans are still the way to go. So, and having that very, I mean, basically I'm trying to say is that to ensure that we are not replaced by AI, we have to keep our value even higher.
20:30what makes humans, humans compared to AI, which is our skill to actually exercise our judgment and use our multiple point of views.
20:37We're not really going to be replaced by AI in that sense, right? And as you've mentioned, also humans are the ones that's feeding the data to AI. That's kind of an ecosystem.
20:49Um, but with AI, AYSES specifically, these sort of youth leadership spaces, they are so beneficial. Um, and it's a great place for knowledge sharing, but also it can become a very quickly a sort of echo chamber for perhaps already privileged voices.
21:06Um, Nadia, could you, um, tell us a little bit about how the both of you really, um, personally grapple with that risk or how did, how do you try to widen that circle to ensure equal access for everyone?
21:18Okay.
21:19I'll touch on that later, but I actually wanted to add on something to Umar's point earlier. So Umar is actually, um, doing economics. So I am doing a STEM major. So I'm from a different perspective than him.
21:30So from my personal perspective into this interdisciplinary learning is really important because, you know, you have the scientists like my people, like me, for example, who are going to be driving innovation and coming up with new solutions for the world in terms of like energy transition and stuff like that.
21:48However, those things cannot be deployed effectively without policymakers and economists to regulate, distribute and implement it effectively for people in our nation and like worldwide. So that's where we work hand in hand and like everyone works together because it's not just, you know, you can't just like silo people into their own categories.
22:07You know, everyone works together and that's how, uh, change come about as an innovation and development progresses and starts in the country. Uh, so that's what I wanted to add on.
22:16But to go back to your question on, uh, leadership and humility, um, um, avoiding echo chamber, avoiding echo chamber.
22:23So I think ultimately that's a question about, this is a question about humility and leadership style. Um, personally for me, how I remain grounded in, um, my, my beliefs and stuff like that is to essentially,
22:36essentially turun padang. So basically get involved in community work and see, go out there and see for yourself, like what is the real economic and social challenges that people are facing right now in the current world.
22:50So that's what I tend to usually do. And in fact, in, in our school, we're having a similar, uh, community service event that we're hosting in our school where we're bringing in, um,
23:00um, organizations and NGOs into, um, our boarding school so that our students can, um, be more, more well aware about pressing issues going on in Malaysia instead of being in a safe and secluded environment,
23:13which I think we tend to be, uh, caught up in most of the time.
23:18And I think from my side is, I think to prevent that sort of echo chambers, I think, I think in general, we like familiarity because it makes us so secure.
23:27And I think the one change or the one thing that I would like to actually say is actually we have to start being comfortable with being uncomfortable.
23:34Right.
23:35And going out there in outside of the comfort zone is very important.
23:39That's where growth happens.
23:40That is actually, that is where growth happens. Like Nadia and I, we would never have thought that we could actually pull off this event.
23:46I mean, um, I think it's actually one thing I would like to say is to prevent, like, going to echo chambers and things like that is actually to always try to keep an open mind.
23:57Um, don't object ideas straight away and things like that.
24:01Because right now you're building your thinking. You shouldn't be straight up, you know, have this is your ground and you're sticking to it because that would consistently change.
24:09And, um, be, don't be afraid of making change or doing crazy ideas and such as what I see after, Nadia.
24:16Yep. I agree.
24:17You try and you learn. If you fail, you try again and you learn from those mistakes, right?
24:22Uh, when expanding a little bit, um, on Nadia's point about, um, going out, being on the ground, turun badang, uh, for young Malaysians who are watching this today,
24:33who may feel so far away from such forums or fellowships and these kind of spaces, what steps or advice would you have for, for any young person today to take part in shaping Malaysia's future and not just reacting to it,
24:47being an active participant, um, in what they want to see. Um, Nadia, shall we start with you?
24:53Sure. I think, first of all, start small, but start intentionally, obviously.
24:58There are a wide range of, um, competitions, public policy competitions, youth initiatives, and even forums like AYSEF, for example, for, for youth, for youth to get involved in.
25:09So, I also think it also starts with having an open mind. So, it starts with you. It starts with you, um, having, taking that risk to step out of your comfort zone to try something new
25:19and explore your interest in whatever it may be, whether it be policymaking, STEM or economics. Um, I think equally important is conversation.
25:27So, engaging with professionals and peers to, uh, test out your ideas is a great way to see if your ideas actually, uh, work within real world constraints.
25:38And it also helps you refine them as you speak out loud about your policy ideas and stuff like that.
25:43And, um, finally, I think community involvement as I touched on before is really important as well because it keeps you grounded and it keeps your thinking.
25:54Um, it keeps, it makes you think in a way where you're taking the perspectives of people who are living through, uh, adversity and, you know, tough times and compared to a person who is not going through that, for example.
26:08Um, so I think over time, these experiences will accumulate and, um, you will gain competence and networks. So, as this develops, then you'll be enabled to, you know, make a change and not just react to policy but at the same time shape it.
26:25Making that first step, once that step is taken, the only way is upwards really. Umar, uh, what are your thoughts on this?
26:32I actually agree with you on the, on the side that actually most of these opportunities are not really accessible.
26:39And I really do understand why Malaysians would feel that this is actually far away.
26:43Because if you were, I mean, speaking from, if let's say AYSEF wasn't done in a way that was free,
26:49we would charge, like having the same level of speakers, the same number of speakers coming from the similar industries,
26:56it would be like two to at least hundreds for participants or it would be like invitation only.
27:01And that's the reason why we created AYSEF. Because we, Malaysians have that drive, but the access itself is limited.
27:09And to those Malaysian youth who feel shy and to actually, to feel shy and feel like this is a bit far, too far away from them,
27:16try to start small. It doesn't have to be big. It has to be started.
27:21So what I mean by this is, um, you know, wherever you are, school, workplace, university or pre-university,
27:29there's always room for you to start something and have someone who will back you up or who share the same vision as you and things like that.
27:38Number two is, try to explore as much as you can. Because, um, you will always find people who is, who would have the same vision as you,
27:47who would have the same drive as you and who be, you know, supportive of you, either it's going to be financially or in terms of inputs or things like that.
27:56And another thing is, be change makers, not for yourself, but for your surroundings.
28:03Because I think we have to admit that we have to start going away from individualism where you want to succeed on your own terms.
28:12But rather, how can I, with the means that I have, help the people around me?
28:16And I think that's a change that Malaysian youth should have. We shouldn't be focused on how I, how will this let me achieve this for me?
28:24But rather, how can I make the place that I am right now a better place for everyone?
28:29Right. Going back to that starting small but intentional and having that curiosity.
28:35Thank you so much to both of you for sharing your insights today. It's been a pleasure having you in the studio.
28:40I've been speaking to Umar Khalid and Nadia Khadija from AYSEF 2025, the President and Vice President of AYSEF 2025.
28:48This has been It's About Youth with me, Fei Kuan. Thank you for watching and see you next time.
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