Life after GE 13

To the polls!

It was an exciting day, last Sunday, 5th May 2013. It was the day Malaysians who care about the country's future went to the polls.

It was our first time voting in Ipoh.

We arrived at our centre just before 8am and there was a queue of about 20 people ahead of us. At 8am sharp, the guard opened the school gate and people then proceeded to have their ICs checked. This was a slow process. And an unnecessary one, we found out later.

The queue was moving so slowly. I remarked to my husband that I remembered during GE 12 back in PJ in 2008, I went straight to my polling stream as I had already checked it online. Why should we queue here since we knew our polling streams too?

But...due to the supposed changes our (not-so) trustworthy Election Commission had implemented for GE 13, thanks to the efforts of BERSIH, we thought we would just follow (like cows to the slaughter). As we got nearer to the tent, I craned my neck so see ahead and it became clear that this process was just for the officers to check your IC details and tell you which polling stream to go to!

Wasted time......sheeeesh!

Anyway, at our polling centre, all was calm and orderly. We were done by 9am. Given the location of our polling centre, it would have been too obvious to bus in "spooks" to vote. At my daughter's ballet class later that day, the moms who voted didn't go too easy on the lone mom who did not vote. Guess that's at least one good thing about the indelible ink - we get to put those who didn't vote on a guilt trip!

The night was spent waiting for election results: my husband on his PC; me on my I-pad.

The morning after.

The much-touted UBAH did not arrive.

BN remains in power as the ruling government, but without its 2/3 majority. It failed to wrest back Selangor and Penang, the much coveted precious gems that BN had gone to great lengths for.

It did regain Kedah, and Mahathir must now be a happy papa as he can finally see his offspring become MB of Kedah, a stepping stone no doubt towards greater political aspirations. And so we have the dynasties of former prime minister Tun Abdul Razak via Najib, and Tun Mahathir via Mukhriz. So...nobody has anything bad to say about dynasties, right?

I have exercised my right as a Malaysian to vote. This was one hair-raising election. People got emotional and heated. But I guess it was in this emotional state that the stuff people wrote on social media truly showed what was in their hearts. And a lot of it wasn't pretty. Nope, not at all.

Racism is well and truly alive here in Malaysia.

Despite 55 years of independence obtained through the cooperation of the different races in Malaysia, it is extremely sad to know that many people have forgotten history; some have chosen to distort history; or to disregard history in their supremist attitude that they and only they own the earth Malaysia lies upon. And the politicians have seized upon this very attitude, increased their insecurities, and fanned it with racial politics to divide Malaysians, for their personal selfish gains.

It broke my heart to read a particular friend's post on FB. It wasn't what she wrote, but rather what her friends wrote. That the elections were about one race fighting against another. How could their thoughts be so distorted?

Malaysians are voting to choose a responsible, honest and capable leadership to steer the country towards greater and continued success. Not a government that doesn't do an honest day's work. Not a government that grows fat and lazy and arrogant.

Malaysians don't want corruption, cronyism and crime.

At least, I thought that's what most Malaysians want and don't want. I may be wrong.

And yes, life goes on.