I went to the iFuture Summit expecting to hear young Malaysians and international graduates ask three prominent panellists—Khairy Jamaluddin, Johor menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi and Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari— about jobs, salaries and artificial intelligence.
Instead, one young woman's question stayed with me.
Why should her generation pay for the environmental damage left behind by the generations before them?
Governments celebrate billions of ringgit in investments, she said, but at what cost to the environment? How can future leaders talk about environmental justice while approving developments such as data centres that raise concerns about water consumption, energy use and pollution?
It was a fair question. Why should young people have to grapple with extreme weather and the consequences of decisions they had little say in making?
Khairy challenged young voters to pay closer attention to politicians' environmental commitments.
"My fear is that this issue, when it comes to elections, is quite low down in terms of our priority. Because it's low down in our priority, then the politicians don't act," he said
He is right.
Young people should demand more from their elected representatives when it comes to climate action. But the responsibility for dealing with extreme weather and environmental degradation cannot rest with them alone.
We cannot enjoy decades of development, sometimes fuelled by short-term gains and greed, leave behind the damage, and then expect our children to clean up the mess.
Every time governments announce major investments, we hear plenty about the economic benefits. Far less attention is paid to the environmental trade-offs.
How much water and electricity will these projects consume? What impact will they have on surrounding communities? And who will be held accountable if things go wrong?
These are questions that should be answered before projects receive the green light, not after the damage has been done.
But the environment is not the only issue weighing on the minds of the younger generation.
Uncertain future
There is also AI and the uncertainty it brings to their future careers.
For decades, we have told our children that education is the pathway to opportunity. Study hard, get a degree and build a successful career.
But what happens if the jobs they are preparing for today look very different by the time they graduate?
Amirudin raised concerns about the growing mismatch between university courses and the skills employers need.
That raises another important question: are policymakers giving students and workers a clear picture of where future opportunities lie? And are universities and colleges adapting quickly enough to prepare them for a rapidly changing economy?
As AI reshapes workplaces, young people need more than assurances that new jobs will eventually emerge. They need guidance on the skills they should acquire and a clearer understanding of where demand is headed so they are not constantly playing catch-up.
In many ways, these concerns are connected.
Economic growth, environmental sustainability and employment cannot be discussed in isolation. Decisions made in one area inevitably affect the others.
Listening to the questions raised at the summit, I was struck by how modest the aspirations of many young people actually are. They are not asking for a perfect world. They simply want clean air, safe water and jobs they can rely on in the years ahead.
For decades, we have measured success by how much we build, how much we invest and how quickly the economy grows.
Perhaps it is time to ask a different question, the same one that young woman posed at the summit: what kind of future are we leaving behind for those who will inherit it?
That, surely, is where planning for the future should begin.
The writer is a senior journalist at FMT’s English Desk.
This article represents the writer’s opinion and does not necessarily reflect FMT’s position.