Fikirlah: Exercising The Right To Vote
By Melati Mohd Ariff
KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) -- "My grandmother is a hardcore Barisan Nasional (BN) supporter," my colleague told me as she showed me a photo of her 85-year-old grandmother, Chah Abdullah.
In the photo, Chah was sitting next to a friend whom she had not met for 60 years. The friend, too, was a long-time supporter of BN.
Born before Merdeka, Chah had undoubtedly seen her country go through some difficult times. She was raised during the British rule and suffered through the Japanese occupation of Malaya. One wonders how many of her experiences have gone untold.
She became a single mother at a very young age and supported her only child by toiling in the paddy fields and weaving mengkuang mats to sell. She poured all her energy into providing the best life she could for her child, never marrying again.
Chah and her friend have lived through six decades of BN rule and have undoubtedly benefited from it, despite the occasional hard times. That is perhaps why they remain steadfast supporters of the ruling party.
Despite their age, both women can hardly wait to cast their vote on May 9, the date of the 14th General Election (GE14).
It is a different case with a friend of mine who is going on a holiday overseas and will not be returning in time to vote during GE14.
There was hardly any regret or dismay over the fact that she would be missing the opportunity to exercise her voting rights.
"It'll be fine. The candidate I'm rooting for will surely win," she said confidently.
What a dangerous assumption to make! If many people subscribed to the same assumption as my friend, contesting candidates would be losing plenty of votes. Every vote counts. One vote could be all it takes to determine a victory or a loss.
In addition to those who simply could not care less when it comes to deciding the fate of our country, there are also those who are still on the fence, unsure of who to root for when Election Day comes.
Their undecidedness is a bit of a mystery as this will not be their first time voting, particularly for those already approaching their golden years.
Perhaps they have been swayed by the plethora of information and campaigns on social media, the number one platform for the dissemination of news these days ? and sometimes, even fake news.
The government made the right decision to enforce the Anti-Fake News Act on April 12, which allows those convicted to be jailed for six years and face a fine of RM500,000.
For these fence-sitters, I wonder what it would take for them to make up their minds the way Nek Chah did.
If they do not make up their minds soon, they might end up the ones who did not go out to cast their vote or those who cause 'spoilt votes'.
The media had previously reported on a group who had campaigned to the youths to spoil their votes on election day as a show of protest to the country's political developments.
Those persuaded by this irresponsible and foolish campaign will be throwing away the priceless opportunity of being able to vote this May 9. They might be stuck with a government they do not like and would have to wait five more years for the chance to exercise this exclusive right again.
GE14 is expected to be the toughest battle in the history of Malaysian politics, due to the major political developments over the past few years.
According to the Elections Commission (EC), there are 14,968,304 registered voters for GE14. Of the figure, some five million are youths, compared with just three million during GE13.
GE14 will also see a fight for the 222 Parliamentary seats and 505 State Assembly seats. This is excluding Sarawak which had its state election in 2017.
To those eligible to vote this year, do not easily give up your right as this opportunity comes only once in five years. Vote rationally and remember, where you cross will determine the shape of the country's future in the five years to come!
(This commentary is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect BERNAMA's stand or views on the matter)
BERNAMA
