Thursday 11 April 2013

Election Watch: Being Apolitical & Non-Voter

Read some articles recently in Star newspaper & MSN website about youths today who are being apolitical & non-voter. A non-voter means he/she is not a registered voter who is not eligible to go to the ballot box in his/her country's general election. Main reasons are either they are not qualified due to age etc or they are apolitical. Seems there are confusion on the actual meaning of being apolitical. Oxford classified it as "not interested or involved in politics" while Collins classified it as "politically neutral, without political attitudes, content or bias".

My understanding? The first one hit the bull's eye straight away although the latter meaning showed a more reasonable explanation which will be accepted by any rationale person. Sad truth is that many citizens of this country, the eligible voters did not have themselves registered as voters due to their apolitical stance. I used to be one too, for not registering myself as a voter. I was just frustrated with the political circus going around, frustrated with things such as economy, civil service etc that should have been managed better, frustrated seeing how other countries overtook us economically & socially. Even with all that, I was still contented as long as I can still earn enough to survive in this country. Moreover, what can a vote do to change a country?  However, the last election in 2008 totally changed all that.

No one expects voters in 4 states (Selangor, Penang, Perak & Kedah) will vote out the state government of the day & elect parties from "the other side". From 2008, u can see for yourself it provides the people a stronger voice in Parliament debating against controversial government projects such as one-sided toll concessionaires, implementation of GST, the installation of AES & Lynas plant etc. Whats the benefits of these projects? Check out all the sources in the Net & u decides urself with ur rationale mind. This forced the ruling government, to temporarily suspend the implementation till further notice. The ruling government themselves initiated some changes & gave goodies to the citizens such as BR1M etc. Without strong opposition voice & with 2/3 Parliament majority, do u think this is possible?

Reasons often given by apolitical people are as below:-

1) My one vote wont change anything
Theoratically & numerically, u may be right if ur speaking as one person. 10 people saying this means a group is saying it. 1000 people saying this mean a community is saying it. Election Committee estimated that 5 million of eligible citizens did not register as voters, which means one third of eligible voters (of total 16 million eligible citizens) have been denied of the right to vote (or rather chose not to vote). Does these numbers big enough to make a difference then?

2) Nobody approach me & give me the registration form
Voter registration campaigns been carried out for past 5 years in many places. Even though ur not being approached, post office & the political parties service centre are the next best places to register urself.

3) I can't stand the long queues at polling stations
Utter bullshit. If u can patiently wait for hours waiting to get free McDonald meals or to buy the latest editions of Iphone on first day of launching, then what's holding u back?

4) I can't stand the heat
Get an umbrella, sunblock, battery-operated portable fan & ur sunglass. By the way, Vitamin D, derived from UV rays benefits ur calcium metabolism, boosts ur immunity & has regulatory roles in cell proliferation & insulin secretion.

Message to the apolitical people, the question here is not about who are you voting for but what are you doing to improve the situation? If ur not happy with ur current handphone line service provider, u don't just sit still. U complain to the customer service call centre. If service still suxx, then its time to change to a new provider. When we change, its only then we are able to compare the service between the old and the new.  However, if u keep whining about how bad is the service etc but yet, nothin is done to improve the situation. Maybe sounds little harsh here, but its solely ur fault then & no one else.

So, April 5 is the judgement day. If ur a registered voter but chose not to vote last time round, do it for once this time. If u need to take a flight, do it (By the way, Air Asia & Malindo Air having promo fares). If u need a friend to tag along, get one then. If u need to work on Sunday 5th, perform ur duties as a employee & then go perform ur duties as a citizen of tis country. If ur not a registered voter, go talk with people whom ur comfortable with, who are voters & ask. Then, reflect. Its never too late to register for next round.
 
"Loyalty to country always, loyalty to government, when it deserves it"
- Mark Twain -


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