PENGLIBATAN MAHASISWA DALAM PROTES POLITIK DI IPTA PRK 2016 (Undergraduate students involvement in political protest in the 2016 Bi-election at public higher educational institutions)

Abstract

Sejak akhir-akhir ini, terdapat perubahan dilihat dalam penyertaan politik anak-anak muda, terutamanya di negara-negara membangun termasuklah Malaysia. Pelajar-pelajar universiti merujuk kepada sekumpulan pelajar yang berada di menara gading dalam sistem pendidikan sesebuah negara. Dengan berbekalkan segugusan potensi diri yang sangat menyerlah, golongan muda menjadi kelompok yang majoriti dalam masyarakat. Nilai positif, semangat dan kreativiti yang ada pada mereka, sekiranya dilengkapi dengan keupayaan mereka dalam meningkatkan kemandirian diri, akan membantu memastikan bahawa penyertaan mereka dalam politik akan menyumbang kepada kejayaan yang berterusan terutamanya dalam aspek pembangunan politik negara pada hari ini. Evolusi perjuangan politik generasi muda radikal di Malaysia bermula seawal hari Malaysia mencapai kemerdekaan pada 31 Ogos 1957. Corak dan trend gerakan golongan muda sejak kemerdekaan dapat dilihat dengan jelas, iaitu digariskan dengan objektif tertentu, khusus untuk menyuarakan kebimbangan mereka untuk beberapa isu-isu yang berkaitan dengan masyarakat dan merayu kepada kerajaan untuk menangani isu-isu tersebut. Adalah menarik untuk dibincangkan bahawa gerakan muda di Malaysia meskipun cuba mengelak daripada terlibat dalam sebarang demonstrasi aman akibat kekangan AUKU, namun begitu pergerakan mereka akhirnya berkembang menjadi protes di peringkat kampus. Untuk kajian ini, data-data berbentuk primer dan sekunder dianalisis secara kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Seramai 60 orang responden dipilih dan maklumat dikumpulkan dengan menggunkaan borang soal selidik yang diisi oleh responden. Hasil kajian menunjukkan faktor internal yang paling signifikan mendorong mahasiswa memprotes dan bukan dipengaruhi oleh politik luar semata-mata. Penglibatan anak muda sangat penting dalam usaha pendemokrasian dan sebagai usaha ke arah pembentukan lanskap politik yang baru di Malaysia.

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In recent years, there have been perceived changes in the political participation amongst young people in constituting the democracy systems, especially in developing countries like Malaysia. As we all know, young people represent a kind of seismograph for the state of a society, especially university students. University students refer to the group of students which were at the highest of education. Possessing a vast reservoir of potentials, the young people represent the majority in society. Positively, their enthusiasm and creativity, if further equipped with their ability in self-organization, would help ensure that their participation in politics contribute to a sustained success in the development of the country today. At the same time, this group of young people has also been reflecting social fragmentation and crisis in the country that eventually leads them to participate in political movements. The evolution of the political struggle of radical young generation in Malaysia begins as early as the day Malaysia attained its independence on the 31^st August 1957. It is observed that the patterns and the trends of the young people’s movement since Independence has been marked with clearly outlined objectives, specifically to voice their concerns for some issues pertaining to the majority in society and in appealing to the government to address the said issues. It is interesting to discuss on political participation in campus, despite there have been attempts to avoid peaceful demonstrations due to AUKU’s constraints, yet the movement eventually evolved to protests on the campus ground. For this research, primary and secondary data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Hence, a total of 60 respondents were selected and the data was obtained through questionnaires completed by the respondents. The results showed the internal factors was identified as the most significant factor in influencing student’s protests in university level. The involvement of young people is very important in democratization and the efforts towards the establishment of a new political landscape in Malaysia.