Youth’s opinion about being yourself
By SEOW WEI SIN | Sunday, 17 Aug 2025 | 1:04 PM MYT
KUALA LUMPUR: Different people have different opinions about being yourself. A youth said that being yourself is related to mental health.
Lucas Lee Wei Yuan, 19-year-old, is a youth who has his own opinion about being yourself. He studies a Diploma of Journalism in Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TARUMT).
“I believe that being myself means that I can show who I really am as a person in front of everyone. As in, I can be comfortable.
“I can be confident and I’m not afraid to express what I really feel and what I really think in front of anyone,” he said.
He mentioned that dressing up according to what you like is a way of expressing your identity. The way you dress also shows what type of person that you are.
“So I feel like the way that you dress is also the way you can tell how someone’s personality is,” he added.
Being Yourself: His clothing represents his self-identity. Photo provided by Lucas Lee Wei Yuan.
He said that he had trouble being himself when he was young. There was a period of time where he struggled with his own identity.
“I didn’t know who I was as a person, and I didn’t know whether the way that I acted was actually what I really am as a person, because I surrounded myself with a lot of people that I looked up to.
“I always wanted, and I took bits and pieces of everyone’s personality and used it for myself. So, a part of me felt as if I was bits and pieces of everyone else,” he said.
After Covid-19, he told himself that he did not want to be fake anymore. He wanted to be truly comfortable in his own voice and skin. “Now, I think it’s quite easy,” he added.
“I feel like everyone growing up would have taken bits and personality from people that you admire,” he said.
He mentioned that it is fine but if you are copying their everything, it is not being yourself. For example, the way they talk and dress.
In his opinion, being yourself is sort of linked to mental health. Being yourself and expressing your true feelings allows you to open communication and makes you feel happier.
“Don’t be afraid of what other people think because everyone is dealing with their own problems and no one is bothered enough to actually care that much about you,” he said to someone who is afraid to be themselves.