What young Fadzmel Fadzil sees in moderates

PERSONALITY: The role of non-governmental organisations as a check-and-balance force in a democracy is an evolving concept that takes into account current challenges facing the society.


Exploring and bridging the ties between government (including political parties) and NGOs is something that has driven the career of 28-year-old Fadzmel Fadzil, currently the operations director at Global Movement of Moderates (GMM), under the guidance of its CEO Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak is the movement's patron.


What traditionally is, at least in Malaysia, the domain of charity and welfare organisations that work alongside the government have now expanded to groups that fight for or against any and every current issue affecting the people.


Perkasa, Isma, Comango and Negara-Ku are just four examples of civil society groups that represent the entire spectrum ranging from the most right-wing to the most left-wing stand, at least based on public perception of their views.


A larger number of NGOs, however, are those representing "moderate" views.


Fadzmel, who together with Saifuddin are also involved in the Center for A Better Tomorrow (CENBET), told theantdaily that the two organisations essentially share similar values which is to "encourage moderation as a way of life".


"I would like to brand moderation as an imperturbable thing globally especially for the youth.


"I would like them to have the urge of do things and make decision moderately, and also as a moderate, I would like to see more moderate youths speak up," said the KL-born who holds a Masters in Logistics & Supply Chain.


Recent developments in the country have raised concerns that moderate voices are being "drowned" by views from both extreme right-wing or left-wing groups in Malaysia, often seen to be at loggerheads with each other and creating an atmosphere of divisiveness on the ground.


Fadzmel, however, said: "I always believe that Malaysians are coherent and rational people who would not think of attacking others based on race and religion."


"Moderates need a space for them to speak and protecting those who are in need.


"Spaces like GMM and CENBET would be best for these people to speak up and be heard," said Fadzmel who is also a member of the National Youth Council, led by Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.


Having been exposed to the Kelab Umno Luar Negara since he was a student overseas, Fadzmel said involvement with the party has allowed him to explore his passions which include dealing with youth issues, unity and youth involvement in social media.


Having organised several programmes that capitalise on social media engagement, Fadzmel cited the 2012 Twitter gathering dubbed #twtupkami in Bukit Jalil Stadium as being the biggest of its kind in Malaysia, with more than 10,000 participants.


"Recently, I also represented Akademi Belia and attended a discussion on "Social Exclusion and High Risk Youth in Malaysia" to review the needs and concerns of high risk youths (15 to 30 years) in urban centres," he said, adding that the academy was set up by Saifuddin as an engagement platform for Malaysian youths.


Upon returning from completing his Masters at UK's Hull University, Fadzmel said he got a chance to work with Malaysian songstress Datuk Siti Nurhaliza and that was when he met Saifuddin, who later approached him with a job offer.


"When I was in the UK, you will find there are less Malaysians at my university if compared to those in London or Manchester, but I still see segregation among the same race and religion.


"One of my proudest moments is when we managed to gather Malaysians from all races and participated in the International Culture Festival, performing the dikir barat, Chinese traditional dance," he recalled.


Fadzmel had served as a special officer to Saifuddin when the latter was still serving as Deputy Higher Education Minister, allowing him an insight into the inner-workings of the government.


During the last general elections, Saifuddin lost his Temerloh parliamentary seat and was not re-elected into the Umno Supreme Council during the party's polls.


This, some argued, was due to his "moderate" views being rejected by traditional Umno supporters.


Fadzmel, however, noted that there are progress being made, singling out a recent incident where a Kluang Umno Youth leader had defended DAP's Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong's rights to distribute kurma together at a Ramadhan bazaar in his constituency.


On challenges facing the country and the way forward for Malaysia, Fadzmel said Malaysians are looking for politicians who have the characteristics of national leaders.


"But sadly, politicians want to politicise the country, and in the end, the people are the victims," he stressed.


"In Malaysia, everything has to be politicised. After GE13, I thought we had enough of politicking with Bersih issues, Lynas, burning Bible and many more.


"Enough is enough with politics. Let's limit politicking to the general election period and work on building the country for the people at other times!" he said.


ICEBREAKERS


theantdaily: In your line of working, being up to date with news/current affairs is a necessity. What are your three top news sources and why?


Fadzmel: HuffingtonPost, Yahoo! Malaysia News & TheMalaysianInsider. If it is a physical paper I would say, Sinar Harian and The Star respectively because of their fast, reliable and compact content. I have less time to read whole newspaper nowadays, hence I use these news sources to keep me updated.


theantdaily: If you find yourself in a crashing helicopter with Datuk Zulkifli Noordin, Datuk Ibrahim Ali and Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin, but there are only three parachutes, what would you do and why?


Fadzmel: You forgot that a helicopter also has a pilot and his co-pilot. I will pass those two parachutes to them because I would rather give the parachutes to those who appreciate the responsibility that has been given to them and they work tirelessly to make the best for them individually and best for people under their responsibility. If you know what I am saying.


theantdaily: If given the chance to ghost write as Utusan's Awang Selamat for one day, what would be your message to Utusan readers?


Fadzmel: "Kehebatan pahlawan bukan terletak pada berapa musuh yang dibunuh tetapi berapa musuh yang boleh diubah menjadi kawan." (The measure of a great warrior is not based on how many enemies did he kill but how many enemies he can convert to be friends.)

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