Understanding 1 Malaysia: Analysis of Youth Perspectives

Abstract

The concept of 1Malaysia is based on the principle of ‘People First, Performance Now’ and it was introduced by YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Abdul Razak on 3rd April 2009, soon after his swearing-in ceremony as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia. However, the 1Malaysia concept and its principles have yet to be fully understood by the public especially the youth. Critically, most laymen understand 1Malaysia through its aids, 1 Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) in particular, rather than its concepts and values. There are controversies in and out of the government on the concept and values of 1Malaysia.The purpose of the research is to analyse the perspectives of Malaysian youth leaders ranged from 21-40 from political divides and non-governmental organizations towards 1Malaysia concept and values. In-depth interviews were adopted for the collection of data. All the audiotape interviews were then transcribed and coded according to the themes that emerged from the qualitative interviews. The codes were then classified into larger themes that directly corresponded to the research questions, and the analysis of the data was guided by the theory of ideology and interpellation espoused by Louis Althusser.