Blowing Water | Do you hear the (young) people sing? How politics in Hong Kong and Taiwan show it’s time to empower the next generation
- Young people are taking to the streets more often in protests across societies, making their anger heard through their votes
- We should cast aside stereotyping millennials as ‘good-for-nothings’ and entitled, and reflect on how we can help them
Before Tsai Ing-wen’s landslide victory secured her a second presidential term in Taiwan, she publicly admitted on numerous occasions that young people were the most critical factor and spared no effort to woo the youth vote.
Despite their overwhelming support for her, there were still underlying concerns as young people are sometimes seen as unreliable voters.
Britain’s Brexit referendum in 2016 is a painful reminder of this.
Back in June 2016, the country voted to leave the EU by 52 per cent to 48 per cent, despite the pre-referendum sentiment that seemed to lean towards maintaining the status quo, something that was supported by young people.
It has been argued that the shocking outcome was due to differential voting patterns among younger and older voters. The “leave” vote was the result of 64 per cent of eligible voters aged 18 to 24 casting their ballots, compared to 90 per cent of those aged over 65.
