What is fast fashion? Fast fashion has enabled those who want to purchase fashion to remain trendy at an affordable price; however, behind this beautiful industry lies problems related to environment and exploitation.

The Youth Parliamentary Debathon debated on the topic of whether Malaysia should ban fast fashion. The debate was held in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, with 32 debaters and their ages ranged from 14 to 25 years old presenting their arguments for or against the motion.

With the motion chaired and moderated by Arief Firdaus bin Azmi, Penang Youth Committee chairman, the debathon saw the debaters passionately arguing about the effects of fast fashion and how a ban could affect Malaysian society.

Government bench debater Lee You Hong said the fast fashion industry causes environmental degradation and labour exploitation.

“Banning fast fashion in Malaysia could mitigate these issues. If not regulated, a continued reliance on fast fashion could lead to worst-case scenarios like irreversible ecological damage, widespread pollution of water sources, and an unsustainable economy dependent on cheap, exploitative labour practices,” he said.

Debater Daniel Iskandar from the Opposition bench said a ban on fast fashion may present as a simple solution, but actually is faced with far more complex consequences.

“In a world where the media controls the markets, which in turn controls the manufacturers, simple solutions such as a ban are detrimental. The repercussions span from market collapses to economic crashes which could destroy entire countries and livelihoods,” said Daniel, who is the best speaker for this session.

Meanwhile, Khairul Iman, a debater from the Government bench, said fast fashion is already a wide-spread industry across the world, but the concern is that the actual cons of this industry comes to a greater extent compared to the pros itself.

“Without the banning of fast fashion, it could lead to such a threatening and bizarre issue across the world and we know these issues aren’t bound and restricted to Malaysia only as fast fashion is such a vast and popular industry across the globe,” he said.

Opposition bench debater Abdullah Saud then said an outright ban on fast fashion policies would spread waves of economic disruption and cause significant unemployment.

“Sustainable fashion can be practised by implementing stricter regulations on materials, waste disposal, and labour conditions within the industry. Encouraging recycling, reusing clothing and penalising overproduction can significantly reduce environmental impacts while maintaining economic benefits without banning fast fashion” said Abdullah Saud, who won the Most Popular Debater for this session.

Penang exco for youth, health and sports Gooi Zi Sen recorded his heartfelt appreciation for being a part of this exciting event where debaters as young as 14 years old elaborate on complex issues such as fast fashion.

“The debathon platform will be the best platform created to do this. The youth of our society should take the lead and they are the powerful force within our community to bring change,” he said.

Timo Goosmann, Minister Counsellor, Head of Political Affairs, Press and Information, Delegation of the European Union to Malaysia said it is important not to underestimate the power of consumers as consumers play a part to instil awareness into the value chain the need to practise sustainable fashion.

“There are many examples of cases where consumers made a difference and consumers’ choices force the fashion industry to make different decisions, resulting in a lot of change we see in the world,” he said in his concluding speech.

He added that people should not underestimate the power of regulation, as many changes are also made by paying attention to the bureaucratic process, such as transnational legislation on working standards, and International Labour Organisation standards, which is the basic foundation for changing consumer awareness.

The Youth Parliamentary Debathon 2024 is organised by KiniEvents and Malaysiakini in collaboration with the Delegation of the European Union to Malaysia. The event is also co-organised by the MPP of Universiti Sains Malaysia, with great support from our partners which are Universiti Sains Malaysia as our venue partner, Malaysian institute for Debate and Public Speaking as soft skills training parter and co-partners that include the Institute for Research and Development of Policy, Uniten, Uniten Debate and Oratory Society, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, GRASS Malaysia and Kloth Circularity.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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