Election Watch: Analysis...All Is Not Lost Yet

5th May 2013, it has to be one of the saddest day in my life & I'm sure the same goes to many other Malaysians too. The incumbent BN got the mandate to form a new government with 133 parliamentary seats against PR's 89 seats. Almost immediately after Najib Tun Razak, BN chairman announced the win on TV, a significantly large numbers of the Malaysian Facebook users changed their profile pictures to all black screen. I will not dwell much on the controversial incidents happened on the election days since they have been widely discussed / shown in Youtube, Facebook & other social media sites. Check it out yourself.

Any right thinking Malaysian has the right to be angry with all the going-ons on the election day. Took me 2 days to fully recover from this but some people still not got over it & even writing petition to demand intervention from Obama administration & United Nation to investigate the electoral process. Even if we can do it, the best they can do is to advise the newly elected PM to look into the alleged irregularities of the electoral system. General election is deemed an internal matter & other parties have no rights to interfere.

After the 5th May, people pondering what's went wrong for Pakatan Rakyat coalition (PR) & where was God during this time when we need Him? Not trying to be Dalai Lama to preach about spirituality here. Forget about the frauds & cheatings but there's a saying "Everything in heaven & earth is the voice of God". Everything happens for a reason, really. Getting people to accept the change of government is like going into marriage with a potential partner. We can always say we're ready & we can never know actually until we get into it. Even if we are, the other partner-to-be may not be ready & not willing to take the jump. The result this time could be a message saying PR is not ready yet to govern, or perhaps the people is not ready yet to accept a new untested government. Which answer is best to explain the loss? Check this below.

Mourn for now but we need quickly go back to the drawing board, reflect, find out the root causes of the fall & rectify it from there. Looking at the GE13 results, statistically it was the best achievement by Opposition against the ruling government in the history of the Malaysian election. Check the parliamentary seats won by both sides since 2004. It's safe for me to say that in terms of political maturity of the people, this country is moving towards the right direction for a 2-party democracy system.

Malaysians are one of the highest users of social medias in Asia. We are now made aware of all the political-related events around the country within minutes of the happenings. It was just too heartbreaking with the loss this time, when electoral frauds & gerrymandering happening in front of our eyes & yet nothing can be done to stop it. However, several wins by PR leaders proved that the impossible can be made possible when the people votes strongly for the candidate. Even with additional ballot boxes coming from no-man land, phantom voters etc, it's insufficient to take away the rakyat's choice of candidate, Nurul Izzah Anwar for Lembah Pantai parliament. With large majority, buses filled with foreigners voting could not stop underdog Michael Jeyakumar (PSM) to win Sungai Siput parliament. This reinforced the pleas why all Malaysians are urged to come in droves to vote. Although PR has lost credible leaders such as Mohamad Sabu (PAS), Dr Dzulkefli Ahmad (PAS), Saifuddin Nasution (PKR) & many others, be thankful that we managed to vote in highly qualified newbies such as Rafizi Ramli (PKR), Wong Chen (PKR), Kasthuri Patto (DAP) as replacements. Parliament sitting is bound to be interesting really with more check & balance.

For PR, despite of many assurances, it's a fact that many voters (even in urban areas) still skeptical of having 3 parties of different ideologies in a coalition governing the country. Coupled with mainstream media branding of DAP being anti-Malay, PAS wanting an Islamic state, PKR with full of scandals etc; it requires patience & perseverance to make the majority understand. Look at this, if a certified racial bigot like Zulkifli Nordin can afford 38,070 votes (which is 43.7% of total who voted) in Shah Alam, the capital of Malaysia's most industrialised state Selangor & some jokers like Bung Mokhtar, Tajuddin Abd Rahman can still be elected into Parliament, we ought to look into the voters' thoughts about having a new government. Leaders from all 3 parties should avoid making contradicting statements, especially sensitive issues of religion, race etc. Politic is about perception. With the mainstream medias, u can be assured of "twisted" information given to the public with a single blurt of word which can sparks hatred & anger. This GE13 results proved mainstream medias are still the main communication medium to the people, even with rise of Internet medias. All PR parties are to have common understanding of having single seat allocation to stand against a single BN opponent for a seat. Semenyih, Sungai Acheh & Kota Damansara are example of state seats lost unnecessarily to BN, because parties unable to have conclusion of allocation causing split votes.

On the voters side, reports confirmed that PR has the popular votes of 5.3 million voters, more than the victor, BN coalition. Sad truth is, with current electoral system, u cant win the Parliament even if ur popular. This is not an American Idol contest. Area delineation in the constituency system makes it more difficult to get the votes possible to gain control of Parliament. Teresa Kok (DAP) thrashed her MCA opponent with majority 51,552 votes but that still only contributed 1 parliamentary seat from Seputeh, KL. This amount itself, however is sufficient to win at least 3 parliamentary seats from Sabah. We cant deny that PR lost out in rural constituencies, which actually hold more power votes than the urban areas. This gives PR no choice but to penetrate the rural areas.

It is very important to take note that the aspirations of rural Malaysians are very different from those in urban areas. Rural Malaysians are more concerned about their next meal while urbanites are concerned more about the bigger picture & the next generation. Read up on Abraham Maslow's Hierachy of Needs theory to understand this. Penetrating the rural areas does not mean just having regular talks (ceramah) & elaborate about the manifesto.  A lot of PR party branches are not strong enough in the constituency, causing the rural voters to choose the devil that they know, rather than the angel that they don't know, borrowing a phrase from a certain doctor originated from Kerala. Have service centres in reaching the locals & identify the potential candidates (who are locals) to expose him/her in serving the people. People in rural areas are more comfortable with people they are familiar with & this will break the ice before informing them about issues. Parachuting outsiders into an area for the sake of getting better chances to win, will not helps although DAP played their cards right by sending their big guns to semi-rural areas in Johor.

Do not underestimate the power of the people. Has we forgotten what's Makkal Sakthi means?

Nation building is a tough, long winding process. Americans take centuries to learn to accept the blacks as equals after Martin Luther King's legendary speech. Comparing to Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela & Mahatma Gandhi who spent their entire life waiting to see a country built with their dreams, what can we say about waiting for another 5 years to realize our dreams for our country? The battle may be lost but this must not shake our faith & beliefs. The world is watching. They can deny but they can't hide. With the power of the people wanting a change, I sincerely believe with God's grace, change is imminent even with the existence of the dirty tricks & all the election machineries, police, medias controlled by the current ruling government. It's just a question of when it's going to happen. We must reflect & musn't stop now. For the sake of our children & future generations, the show must go on.

"Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength. No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful the experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster"

- Dalai Lama -

 

 

Election Watch: The Judgement Day

Today is the day. I've done my part & I believed many of us have done so too. Now that human role has been performed, let us leave everything else to the Highest Order above.

I will be staying up late tonight, probably awake till next day to catch up the latest results and hopefully, witness a new beginning. Till then...

Election Watch: Knowing What To Do on Polling Day

Now that nomination day today is done, the battle for next GE has now begun. Considering there will be estimated of 3 million new voters & another substantial numbers of overseas citizens (registered voters who have never voted before) getting ready to perform their duties on coming May 5, its such a bewildering situation where the Election Committee didnt make efforts to educate the would-be voters on do & dont during the polling days. Thanks to NGOs' efforts, now the new voters will have ideas on code of conducts the polling days. Check these out from multiple sources that i've got.

The Voter Agent Training recently conducted at the PJ Civic Centre brought to the fore some very critical issues which every voter ought to know.

These are :
1) As soon as you enter the polling station, you will be ushered to Kerani 1, who will check your personal identity against your NRIC. He/she will then read out your name, NRIC number and the Siri/Bilangan number in accordance to the List provided by the Election Commission (SPR).

2) Once all that is verified, Kerani 1 will pass your NRIC to the next officer, Kerani 2.

3) Here, Kerani 2 will hand you a ‘Kertas Undi,’ which is identified by its Serial Number. As a Voter, please know your rights. You have the constitutional right under our Election Laws to NOT accept the ‘Kertas Undi’ that the officer assigns to you. You CAN and should ask for a different ‘Kertas Undi’ from a different book. To do that, just say to the officer, “Encik (or Cik), saya minta Kertas Undi dari buku lain atau dari bawah.” Translated, that is, “Sir (or Madam), I like to request a different ballot paper from a different book or from below.” This must be done so that the Voter CANNOT be identified via the SPR’s Master List. It will take just ONE voter to upset the whole sequence, which will eventually affect the SPR’s Master List for that voting centre. The aim of doing this is to SAFEGUARD every Voter’s identity. No one has the right to know how you want to vote.

4) Once your ‘Kertas Undi’ is issued to you, just stand there and do NOT leave immediately.Instead please CHECK BOTH SIDES of the ballot paper in order to ensure that there are NO pencil markings or any other form of suspicious markings on it. If there are, REJECT the ballot paper issued to you and instead request for these markings to be either erased to your satisfaction or for you to be issued with a new ‘Kertas Undi.’ Also do NOT accept any loose-lying ‘Kertas Undi,’ which may have been strewn about because it was rejected by someone else earlier. ALWAYS ask for a fresh ballot paper from the book. An alternative, as suggested by certain other people via email, is to bring along your own eraser so that when you see any pencil marks, you can rub them off completely yourself.

5) Kerani 2 will then hand the ‘Kertas Undi’ to the next officer, Kerani 3. Kerani 3 carries a seal, which will be used to stamp your ‘Kertas Undi.’ PLEASE watch carefully that the officer stamps your ballot paper FULLY and CLEARLY. After that, see that it is folded into two before the ballot paper is handed over to you. Incomplete stamp mark can and will render your ballot paper as spoiled vote.

6) You can now proceed to the voting booth.

7) At the booth, please ensure that the ballot paper has only your ONE marking of a single X. If for whatever reason, suspicious or otherwise, you overlooked some pencil marks of numbers or markings on the front or back of the ballot paper (ie other than your own mark), please ERASE those markings completely. REMEMBER, these markings can and will render your ballot spoiled – so be Extra Cautious. The most careful approach is to check your ‘Kertas Undi’ thoroughly before you accept it from the officer. REMEMBER to check it in front of the relevant officer so that if you have to reject it, he is right in front of you.

Please be aware that the indelible ink (marked on ur fingernail upon registration) takes 30 seconds to dry and when the folded ballot paper is opened with both hands, there is a great likelihood that this ballot paper will become smudged and therefore rendered as a spoiled vote.

 

To prevent this happening, instruct kerani 3 not to fold your ballot paper so you can check it for markings straight away. Make sure you handle the ballot paper only with your right hand as the left hand finger has indelible ink that is still wet. Move to ballot station and mark X in the box of your chosen candidate with your right hand without handling anything with your left hand.

8) Do not be afraid or cower in fear when you have to express your objections because there are representatives from the various participating political parties who will be there to observe the whole voting process and they are there to assist you as and when you need. As mentioned earlier, It is this kind of information that GUILTY PARTY does not want others to know. They thrive on public ignorance so that they can do whatever they feel like brazenly. One way to stop them is to send this information to as many of your friends as possible so that everyone, on voting day, knows exactly what to do, and? is fully AWARE of his/her constitutional voting rights. Print this out and keep it safely. When Voting Day finally arrives, it will be handy for you to access and read again. PLEASE bring along your own pencil ERASER. It is VITAL that we get this information across to as many people as possible.

9) UTMOST IMPORTANT!!! Do not wear any clothes bearing the symbol of any political parties into the polling hall. Knowing the tide against the rakyat, DO NOT even wear anything that deemed sensitive or have anti-government themes such as Bersih, Himpunan Hijau Lynas etc. The officer can deny u the opportunity to enter the hall to vote. U've waited 5 years, dont waste the chance to vote just because of some silly mistakes....

 

"The idea of election is much more interesting to me than the election itself. The act of voting is in itself the defining moment"

- Jeff Malvoin -

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 -



Election Watch: Parliamentary & State Seats

Now that Parliament has been dissolved & election date will be announced anytime soon, will post on opinions & views on the local political scene and today will be the first one. Approximately 3 million newly registered voters (not inclusive of the phantom ones) are going to the polls for the first time.

However, based on my observation & talks with the people, apparently many are still confused or have different knowledges about voting for candidates at parliamentary level & state level. Let me explain in few bits here. 1 parliamentary constituency usually consists of minimum 2 state seats, with the exception of Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya & Labuan. For example, at my place, Kelana Jaya parliamentary constituency consists of Subang Jaya & Seri Setia state seat. Below are the current incumbents with their parties:-

P. 104 KELANA JAYA
LOH GWO BURNE (PAKATAN RAKYAT - PKR)

N.31 SUBANG JAYA
HANNAH YEOH (PAKATAN RAKYAT - DAP)

N.32 SERI SETIA
NIK NAZMI NIK AHMAD (PAKATAN RAKYAT - PKR)

Look out for your polling & voting areas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Malaysian_electoral_districts In the election, I will be voting under Kelana Jaya parliamentary & Subang Jaya state seat. How to know which area ur voting for? Go check your voter status at Election Committee website www.spr.gov.my. Some telecommunication company offers sms service for u to check the status. Users can also sms to 15888 & type "SPR SEMAK xxxx (IC no)" to know their areas. Once checked, dont panic if ur areas are not supposed what it should be. For example, u could be staying in USJ, Subang Jaya but instead of voting for N.31 Subang Jaya state seat, ur could be assigned to the nearby N.30 Kinrara. Some are worst, being assigned to areas that they never set foot on. Dont need to be panic as this is a result from factors below:-

1) U did not update your latest address in the electoral roll with Election Committee
2) Election Committee had area declination process (usually this is unannounced), separating the zones into few areas.

Most of the time, this incident happens due to the 2nd factor. Whether its permissible or lawful or not, up to u to decide, which is why much-criticized Bersih committee is fighting for the Election Commitee to clean up the electoral roll. Even if ur assigned to vote in areas other than where are u living now, for once, make an effort to go and make your vote counts. If u need to take a flight, do it. If u need to tumpang in a stranger's car, do it. If u think u need a GPS to help u to find the place, do it.

Bear in mind, if u dunno, the federal government Cabinet will be formed from candidates, from the party with most seats and these are the people ur putting ur votes to shape our country's political, economic & social environment & so forth. Meanwhile, state governments are formed with candidates sitting on state seats. Looking at seat composition in Kelana Jaya, all seats belong to Pakatan Rakyat (PR). The 2 current state assemblymen above sit in Selangor state assembly & helped PR to rule Selangor since they hold the majority state seats in Selangor state assembly, refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selangor_State_Assembly Our Kelana Jaya member of parliament (MP) represented PR at federal government level but BN still holds the majority shares of seats in Parliament. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_Parliament This gave them the mandate to form the current ruling government.

Now, back to the voting of the candidates in the next election. In the past, most voters' tactic of having check & balance factor while voting is to vote for the Opposition for the state seat while voting for BN for parliamentary seat. It could also be the other way round, depending on how do they look at the whole picture. Problem is many people still dunno what are they voting for & how can their local concerns being disseminated. U see, if ur rubbish not collected by the local contractors, the increasing crime rates at ur area, increasing sights of illegal immigrants etc, u go to the local service centre & see ur state assemblymen (or rather women) for immediate solutions. Its their duties to look into this & bring up to the local municipal council, local police authorities etc or worst, the state assembly to be debated if problems still unresolved.

Its ok to inform the MP too but this situation is like your office toilet often ran out of toilet papers & instead of complaining to ur departmental manager, u tell your general manager to highlight the issue in the directors' meeting. Ur MP's job is to look & highlight the issues which may need to be addressed at national level. Eg, the increasing sights of illegal immigrants at ur area could be result of failures of Immigration department staffs to check their identities & monitor their movements etc. This, could caused increased crime rates & many other social problems.

Check the background of the candidates & the appearance. He/she doesnt need to be an orator but check out Youtube during the campaigning period or better still, go check out the campaign speech expected to be held near your place. A MP also needed in debating Bill in Parliament which will may affecting us in our daily life. Think AES, GST etc. Look out for his/her abilities to give public speech & present his/her points well. Bear in mind, being loud does not mean having charisma. Think Datuk Ibrahim Ali, Datuk Bung Mokhtar, Datuk Tajuddin Abd Rahman etc. Bear in mind also, we are looking at people who can become Minister material & not racial bigots, sexists or people with big egos. Now, if ur having a problem in ur area & ur state assemblymen is from one camp while your MP is from another camp. It will be alright if both have the same goal of wanting to serve the people. What if one of them is just not interested?

My view? Vote for changes in both seats & ensure all are given to same camp. In my area, I wont change the incumbents parties of course. Your rationale will helps you in making your choice. Happy Voting !!!!

"Ask not what the country can do for you, Ask what can you do for your country"

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy-