That’s what we are voting for, and from the results so far, have voted for.
Am I making sense? I’m dizzy with excitement tinged with some worry, too.
Elections results coverage:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/index.php
Both Parliament and State seats for my area have been won by the Opposition. I was a part of that vote. 
With all the excitement going on today – Malaysians voting for a better Malaysia and a better tomorrow – it slipped my mind that today is International Women’s Day. I only remembered when I went to Marina Mahathir’s blog. Does that make me a bad girl? 
Malaysian Writers on the Net, my website to provide an online presence for Malaysian writers, as well as other aspects of the Malaysian publishing industry, has finally gone “live”.
The site will feature Malaysian writers who have published, as well as provide information about editors and publishers. Please read the “About” section for more information. There will also be news about new book releases, book readings, and other book related events.
The first article is a combined list of bestsellers from three local bookstores – Kinokuniya, MPH and Times – taken from their respective websites.
In addition to content updates, you can expect to see occasional changes in the design template. Malaysian Writers on the Net is an on-going work-in-progress! Please email all queries and comments to mywriters[AT]gmail.com.
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.
He was a rescued 8-week-old puppy fostered by my sister’s tailor that my sister had decided to adopt. It was a surprise that she would do such a thing as she’s not much of an animal person. But when you see a picture of him taken the evening he joined the household, you’ll understand her decision:
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He’s CUTE! Compared to the other two four-legged members of the family – a rottweiler called Lok (Chinese variation of Rott, but also meaning “happy”) and a doberman called Morpheus – he looks more approachable, too. As the smallest of the three, he has been nicknamed SmallDog, although over the months, he has grown quite a bit, so that now, we must remember to call him by his real name, Prince.
Over the months since he joined the household, two other things have happened to Prince. His pair of ears have become mismatched – the right ear is upright while the left ear remains droopy, and his tail has flowered into quite a magnificent brush. Here he is at 11 months old.
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Another view of his tail.
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That’s his “house” behind him, a section of the corridor leading from the garden into the wash area. He remains on a chain even when home because he’s still able to squeeze between the grille bars, as in the picture above. Initially, we thought he’d grown too big to squeeze through, but one evening, the maid had found him seated at the door watching her at work. To prevent any doggy encounters with my sister, it was decided to return him to his chain.
One thing we’ve still not been able to determine is his breed. Sure, he’s a mixed, but of what breeds in particular? One vet thinks he’s a Spitz – Cavalier King Charles mix, while another vet thinks he also has Collie blood in him, too. Looking at the three pictures here, any suggestions what he might be?
