This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 22, 2019 - July 28, 2019

I do not like celebrating birthdays. I find the off-key and unsynchronised singing and cheering when celebrating the birth of a human awkward, especially when it really doesn’t take much for that human to be born into this world.

If I need to feign happiness over another’s mere existence, I just have to wait until Raya, when my relatives will brag about their children’s latest achievements. Nobody wants to hear about your daughter’s successes as a doctor over and over again, Pak Ngah!

That is why every year, when that particular milestone appears, I take a week off and go on a solo trip to a nearby island. Not only do I dislike celebrating other people’s birthdays, I also don’t care to celebrate mine.

However, this year is going to be different because I will turn 30 in November.

No, I am not one of those people who make a big deal out of reaching another decade on this planet. For me, the number is irrelevant. But the reason I am anxious about turning 30 is that it will herald the last year that I will be considered a youth!

At my next milestone in 2020, I will be considered … old?

No, that can’t be right because 31 is definitely not old, per se. It is relatively young, in fact. At 31, many of us still have the energy to debate whether beer with 0% alcohol is halal or haram, or rail against the appointment of a transgender to represent her own community in healthcare.

So why did Minister of Youth and Sports Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman change the definition of “youth” at the federal level to mean those between 15 and 30 years old? Hey, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein only stepped down as the Umno Youth chief at the ripe old age of 49.

Thankfully, there will be a transition period — the new youth age cap will take effect only on Dec 31, 2021. So I will remain a youth for two more years. Hey, count every blessing you have, right?

What makes one a youth at 30 but not at 31 or 32? I’m pretty sure at 32, there will still be many of us who will not be able to, or will hesitate to, commit to purchasing our first home — just like when we were 30.

You can’t do much within one or two years — Pakatan Harapan ministers can attest to that. Even Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, our 94-year-old prime minister, says he needs more than two years to put the country in order.

For the record, Bro Syed Saddiq pushed for the amendment of the Youth Organisation and Youth Development Act to introduce reformation at youth organisations across the country. In short, young people know best what young people need.

On this, I agree. Regardless of what not-my-Bossku thinks, a 65-year-old guy talking like a Mat Rempit on Facebook is an assault on one’s visual sensory system, not to mention an insult to one’s intellect.

However, not all states agree with Syed Saddiq’s plan to reduce the youth age cap. That makes it very confusing because one can be a youth in Mutiara Damansara at 30 but not when he steps into Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

I mean, if Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Abang Openg can still be president of the Sarawak United National Youth Organisation at 70 years old …

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