KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — The youngest MP in Malaysia’s history, P. Prabakaran, may have to extend his study period for another year after being chosen as the people’s representative on May 9.

The 22-year-old, who is studying law at Brickfields Asia College, told Mingguan Malaysia that his new role calls for many sacrifices including lesser family and personal time.

"I normally take up four or five subjects every year but now I am advised to take only two subjects and my classes will be rescheduled to the weekends or evening time so I have that flexibility.

"I am now in my second year and I was scheduled to finish my studies after three years but now I may need to extend another year,” he told the Malay daily.

Prabakaran said most of his time now are concentrated on social services.

"Now I have to maximise social services, which means I have less time for my family and my own personal time is limited to only one day weekly.

"I don’t find it particularly hard to do. It is challenging but I will never give up. Our team just won big. I can always count on PKR to help me manage my activities,” he said.

Speaking about his plans for youths, Prabakaran said he wished to create a business platform that can help address the issue of lacking job opportunities, among others.

"With this platform they can sustain themselves. Typically, the youths work 9-5 jobs. When will they learn how to become a boss?

"So I want them to embrace the concept of entrepreneurship. I will help them secure business sites,” he said.

He said one of the reasons why Pakatan Harapan won GE14 was because they managed to garner the support of Malaysians under the age of 40 by highlighting the youth agenda.

"I am proud to become the youngest MP in history but I am also disappointed that I had to initiate it. Why didn’t the youths before me contest for a seat? People say that the younger generations are merely bystanders and spectators.

"I hope someone will beat my age record in GE15 because I want more young people involved in politics especially since they can provide more services to the society,” he said.

Prabakaran won Batu parliamentary seat independently with a majority of 24,438 votes, after incumbent Chua Tian Chang was barred from defending his seat.

"I knew I would lose to Tian Chua but I contested for the Batu seat because it has been home to my family for four generations now. I was born and raised here, so it would not make sense if I were to contest in Titiwangsa now, would it?

"I was hoping to only get 1,000 votes and will bring my supporters to Tian Chua’s side. That was the plan if I had lost. But after Tian Chua expressed his support for me, it became another story,” he said.