Since his return after his term as Malaysia’s Ambassador to the US, UMNO veteran Nazri Aziz has been making headlines.

He took jabs at UMNO Youth for being “too Malay” and said that their public statements represent only a small portion of the Malay population.

He actually missed the mark by targeting the UMNO Youth with his statement, this need clarification, any meaningful change throughout world history has always started by a small group of passionate individuals, as it does with the Malay youth today. Think “the Young Turks”.

UMNO peaked in the 2000s, a fact I doubt Nazri Aziz, an UMNO dinosaur, even realizes, is over 20 years ago now.

UMNO Youth under Akmal Salleh whether he realizes or not, is only a small part of the broader Malay youth movement. As of right now, he is only harping on issues that we, the younger generation of the New Malay collective, deem important enough to be circulated on social media to stay relevant.

Our generation, which is not bound by party loyalty like the old UMNO days, constitutes a significant portion of today’s electorate and us, being part of the majority race which is the Malays, will steer the future of the country, regardless of whether the other races are able to accept it or not.

Our politics, the way that it is today, is hugely the byproduct of UMNO’s decades of commandeering and really a display of their failure to address key racial issues that have plagued among the different ethnic communities throughout the years.

The time for change is now, and we have chosen to usher reform under the guidance of Islam, as per the spirit of Malaysia’s federal constitution.

Jauhari Johar

8th March 2025