'Four Million Yet To Register' (and one of them is me)
Hold your attention folks. Apparently, some four million Malaysians who have blown, cut and eaten their 21st birthday cakes have yet to register as voters. Procrastination, not knowing where and how to register and general indifference towards who runs the country are some of the reasons cited for not having registered.
Having turned 21 this year, I of course jumped on my defenses when hearing the news; the next Pilihanraya is a freaking three years away, why make a big fuss about people not registering now? Malaysians would wait till the last days of 2005 to apply for MyKad (after being nagged about it since 2003) so what makes you think that things would be different when it comes to registering as voters?
Nevertheless, the report does reveal some important facts that could help all political parties devise a strategic campaign for the next election. One was that these four million eligible voters (assuming all possess the civic consciousness to go out and pangkah) actually hold the capacity to shift the country’s ruling powers. Two was that about a third of the four million is plopped in the age group of thirty and below.
(Gasp. That’s you and me!)
Why are we not feeling all excited about registering as voters? I always see Pilihanraya as a fun-filled national event. Don’t you find them all fancy; the meet-and-greet sessions (wakil rakyat, not AF idols), the poster war (when you can see a rocket flying higher than the moon), the poison letters that stuff our mailbox when voting day draws nearer?
But like I mentioned earlier, there is little sense of urgency here and us being Malaysians, we do not usually feel the urgency to do anything more than 72 hours before the deadline. Plus, registering would be less of a hassle when the election fever hits its highest temperature and you see BN trucks transporting SPR officials even to the rural-most areas to make registering as easy as possible.
Back to the report of the missing four million. I wonder why some of us refuse to vote? Having the eligibility to vote is one of the most important privileges of being a citizen of a country. So why not have your say? Perhaps those who do not see the significance of their individual votes have the impression that their vote will not make a difference. A single voice drowns in the majority. But what if everyone begins to think that way? What if the people who bother to go mengundi are just politicians and their party members (because they ALWAYS believe that they could make a difference)?
Holding a Malaysian passport and a Malaysian ID, I hold on dearly to my rights as a legitimate citizen of this country and that includes my right to vote. I may not have registered but I know that when Pilihanraya comes to town, I damn sure want to be part of it.
And I've already started polishing my pangkah-memangkah skills. Hehe.
Having turned 21 this year, I of course jumped on my defenses when hearing the news; the next Pilihanraya is a freaking three years away, why make a big fuss about people not registering now? Malaysians would wait till the last days of 2005 to apply for MyKad (after being nagged about it since 2003) so what makes you think that things would be different when it comes to registering as voters?
Nevertheless, the report does reveal some important facts that could help all political parties devise a strategic campaign for the next election. One was that these four million eligible voters (assuming all possess the civic consciousness to go out and pangkah) actually hold the capacity to shift the country’s ruling powers. Two was that about a third of the four million is plopped in the age group of thirty and below.
(Gasp. That’s you and me!)
Why are we not feeling all excited about registering as voters? I always see Pilihanraya as a fun-filled national event. Don’t you find them all fancy; the meet-and-greet sessions (wakil rakyat, not AF idols), the poster war (when you can see a rocket flying higher than the moon), the poison letters that stuff our mailbox when voting day draws nearer?
But like I mentioned earlier, there is little sense of urgency here and us being Malaysians, we do not usually feel the urgency to do anything more than 72 hours before the deadline. Plus, registering would be less of a hassle when the election fever hits its highest temperature and you see BN trucks transporting SPR officials even to the rural-most areas to make registering as easy as possible.
Back to the report of the missing four million. I wonder why some of us refuse to vote? Having the eligibility to vote is one of the most important privileges of being a citizen of a country. So why not have your say? Perhaps those who do not see the significance of their individual votes have the impression that their vote will not make a difference. A single voice drowns in the majority. But what if everyone begins to think that way? What if the people who bother to go mengundi are just politicians and their party members (because they ALWAYS believe that they could make a difference)?
Holding a Malaysian passport and a Malaysian ID, I hold on dearly to my rights as a legitimate citizen of this country and that includes my right to vote. I may not have registered but I know that when Pilihanraya comes to town, I damn sure want to be part of it.
And I've already started polishing my pangkah-memangkah skills. Hehe.
posted by Trishomachine. at 6:27 AM
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