Are you voting this Saturday?
This has been a constant question to everyone I meet, and when they hesitate with their reply, I then ask “Are you registered to vote?”
Some of them reply that they missed the last voter registration in November 2007, and there is a note of regret in the reply.
I remember registering to vote as soon as I was able to. I was in the first batch of post-Merdeka voters, and was even interviewed by The New Straits Times; it was a big deal in those days. I remember being asked who I would vote for, and my reply - the Opposition. Why? Cuz every government, however strong and fair, needs an Opposition to keep it in check.
As it turned out, I didn’t get to vote in every election, as I was out of the country during the 1990 and 1995 elections. For the latter, I was travelling to Zimbabwe for a work-related trade exhibition, and when we arrived, our hosts turned on the news where we saw that Barisan Nasional had once again won the elections.
During the last elections in 2004, I drove to the old neighbourhood with my father to cast our votes. By that time, mother was living in the nursing home and too frail to come along with us to exercise her duty as a Malaysian. Even though we had moved out of the neighbourhood, we continued to vote in this constituency as it was an Opposition stronghold.
Now that my father has left us, and mother remains in the nursing home, I will be on my own this Saturday. Late last year, I decided to update my voter registration details to my current address. For a few weeks after I made the change, I kept visiting the Elections Commission website to check if the details had been updated, but it wasn’t until 20 February that the info was finally updated; I am now listed as a voter for the Subang constituency (Subang for Parliament and Bukit Lanjan for State).
Yesterday, I went on a drive to look for my polling station, the SK Bukit Lanjan, which is apparently located in my neighbourhood. I couldn’t find it on my side of the humongous flyover system just past IKEA and Tesco, and while I did find Bukit Lanjan, located on the other side, I didn’t find any school in it, just lots of little shops and front yard motor repair workshops. No matter. I’m sure this Saturday, I will see lots of signs leading to the polling station.
Happy voting to all Malaysians registered to vote. Please vote. As Kam Raslan said in this week’s issue of Talking Edge, it’s our right.
