As I was trying to find my place in the world that is secondary school, I became very sensitive and aware of my peers' political opinions, as it was quite "trendy" to express hate/dissatisfaction with the ruling government back then. Of course, right now this dissatisfaction is more prominent than ever but to a group of 13-year-olds with no voting power, it was more of saying it to 'fit in' or in my case, not be socially excluded. It was this situation that led me to slowly distance myself from the 'daughter of a politician' identity that I was involuntarily given.
I should clarify that I was never ashamed of my father's decision to be a politician, he gave up a better paying job to serve the people, despite the corrupted view the country has on the government. We might hate to admit this but there are some people doing amazing work for the country that are in the 'wrong' party. However, as humans, the cognitive dissonance of 'a good person' in the 'wrong party' forces us to ignore this anomaly and opt for the heuristic that classifies all in the group into one stereotype that is familiar to us. Well, that's a little nugget of psychology for you. Going back to my story...
Despite school-life being a politics-free zone for the first few years, as I made better friends and gained a better understanding of our nation's history to independence, I became more accepting of my 'daughter of a politician' status. This, I can only speak for myself. The 2013 general elections came, dad tried to get re-elected but unfortunately lost. A whole whirlwind of events happened which got me fueled up to exercise my rights to vote in the next election.
One of the things I made sure I did when I went home for the summer last year was to register as a voter. Back then, I was unsure how the voting process will be for me as I'll be miles away from my polling station in KK. I registered anyways. Then, the news of the 'postal vote' system was announced and it was a breath of relief as I'll be saving a trip to London (because I will defo stop for some korean fried chicken at On the Bab). So I filled up the form, waited a month, only to email them and receive this:
If I remember correctly, parliament hasn't dissolved then so I wasn't aware of the time between the 'candidate announcement' day and actual voting day. It felt like it was a mandate that sufficient time should be given to ensure all postal votes can get back in time. As we all know too well, that was not what happened. Surely, an independent, fair election commission (EC) appointed by our Agung (King, yes a monarch in a democratic society, Malaysia is complicated) should have discussed this through, I mean, it is a nationwide election, not a voting day for your prom night theme. Even the Oscars gave their academy members a month to vote.
As I am powerless in demanding them to change the dates, I waited patiently after the 28th of April for my ballot. As they claim to be efficient, I thought ballots will be mailed out immediately after the names were announced, at least a day later. But not in my case. Apparently, each EC branch works at a different pace and are unable to keep up with the urgency of sending the ballots out on time. Here's an email I received on the 4th of May, one week later:
"Duly forwarded" on the 3rd. It took them a week to send my ballot out and still they missed a few details. It seems like the EC is oblivious to the logistics of the international posting system. Even with the fastest courier, it will take 5 working days for packages to arrive. I was so disheartened after realising that my vote will never make it back on time. I was one of the few of my friends to have actually registered on time and get the postal vote approval, yet, I'll still be part of the voices that were silenced due to the system that is so insistent in ensuring that we keep our voting virginity, at a time when we're so ready to give it away.
I've come to a point where despite signing all petitions and filling out all google forms, I know it isn't going to change the fact that my vote will not count. Then, I go on Facebook and see this:
I was feeling all sorts of emotions: anger, hatred, outright disappointment with our Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, someone who plays a part in running our country. For him, to say something so enraging, makes me wonder the extent of our leaders' intellectual capacity and ability to be professional. 0.1%/8000 votes is still a non-zero amount, meaning it is substantial and can potentially have the power to change the results for certain seats. To disregard us postal voters is to show the indifference to the minority. Yes, democracy means a leadership that is led by the (simple) people, i.e. the majority vote. However, in reality, it is way complex than this, as eloquently put in this sentence:
Majority rule is a means for organizing government and deciding public issues; it is not another road to oppression. Just as no self-appointed group has the right to oppress others, so no majority, even in a democracy, should take away the basic rights and freedoms of a minority group or individual (LawTeacher, 2013).
I wasn't sure if I wanted to rant about the postal voting system or unpack the box that is "Malaysian politics" but I knew I wanted to share my side of the story. I guess this is how I "protest" against my country's decision to make us, overseas voters, victims of an unjust system.
I can't tell if I am making any sense at all as it is 1.24am and I am mostly fueled by rage which has long subdued after reading the essay on the concept of democracy (link here), which further convinces me that we humans suck at running a democratic society. Just an opinion.
Anyways, here's another screenshot of FedEx texting me about my postal vote delivery, just so this saga has an end:
I guess to briefly explain how I lost my voting virginity, it hurt but it felt like it didn't happen.
Maybe second time round, it'll be more satisfying.
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