Why vote?

ARCHIVES 2012

By admin-s On Jan 11, 2012

While political parties have a big role to play, I suggest that we must vote first for individuals. This is because when we make this stand, no political party in their right mind will dare to choose incompetent candidates to represent them. When we choose the individual carefully, rationally and without partisanship, we will force and ensure that only good people become our leaders. When we have good people in the parliament, we need not worry which party they come from because good people will find a way to work together for the good of the nation.

By Anas Zubedy

What are some issues people have with voting?

There is a big segment of over 4 million eligible voters in Malaysia who have not registered as a voter. There is another about 4 million people who are registered voters but still do not go out and vote. There could be various reasons for this – perhaps they are too busy or consider it too much hassle to go back to their home town, and some may not make the effort because they do not feel that their vote can really change things. There is also an issue that people do not know which candidate to vote for. So they sort of protest by refusing to vote, or become dysfunctional – they adopt the attitude of almost resenting the idea of voting because they say it would not make any difference.

How can we get people to vote?

I see that the problem for many who have not registered to vote or do not turn up to vote, is that they do not realize the worth of their vote. I want to sell the idea that each one vote decides almost anything under the sun in this country. In effect, one vote every four or five years, decides so much – how our schools are going to look like, how our children go to school, how we run our businesses, how society develops.

Why register as a voter?

The question we need to ask here is – what is my vote worth? We must realize our vote bears huge significance. Our vote decides how we run our economy, how our kids’ schools will be like, how our matters of religion, culture, and environment are handled, how our elderly are taken care of, how our poor are taken care of, how our physically handicapped people will be provided for, how good are our international relations… This one vote that we have will deal with gender issues too, retirement issues, welfare issues. Many do not realize that each vote is worth millions and millions of ringgit. Everything hangs on it.

When should we start enrolling voters?

Different countries have different needs. There are countries which allow voting at eighteen or sixteen years old. In some countries, one can vote from the time he/she is eighteen, but they must be married to be eligible. There are some countries, for example, which allow people to vote when they start working and start paying taxes. In Uzbekistan, for example, I think one can only vote when he/she reaches twenty five years old. We need to determine voting age based on the needs of our country.

Here in Malaysia, there is a large 43% of Malaysians under the age of twenty one. Based on this distribution, I see that it is good if we can start enrolling voters earlier. We must get our politicians to bear in mind that a large portion of our nation is made up of young people, and they must be heard and represented. The problem now is that as our young Malaysians can only register at twenty one, they may only be able to vote in the following elections when they are twenty four. Perhaps we can allow our young to register as a voter five years before they turn twenty one, from the time they are sixteen or seventeen. Then we can ensure that the politicians will also pay attention to this 43% of our population.

Should we make it compulsory or automated for people to be registered as voters at a certain age?

I do not see that making it compulsory will solve the problem… as it is now many are registered but do not even show up to vote. There is another alternative. It would be good enough if we effectively ritualize it, make it a custom to register as a voter – for example when children move on to secondary school, they become young men and women, they go to the registration department to get their IC, parents can at the same time take them to the registration counter to register as a voter. It becomes a ritual, like getting our IC, or getting our first driving license when we hit a certain age. It becomes a sign of coming of age, of adulthood and responsibility.

Who to vote?

When people talk about who to vote, these days there is a notion that we must choose one party or the other. Some suggest vote for anything but Barisan, and some say vote for anything but Pakatan. Some say votes for Barisan is a vote for UMNO, and some say a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS or vice versa, etc. etc.

I find these not only very myopic, but also plain unthinking. This attitude of giving someone a free ride based not on careful consideration of individual merit, but based solely on party partisanship, is what helps create a corrupt government in the long run. In the short term, we have incompetent lawmakers.

How should we vote then?

I see that we can come up with a list of criteria to help us choose who to vote for – characteristics that we need in our MPs, for example intelligence and diligence, good mental and physical health, someone who understands and empathizes with all cultures in Malaysia and who would speak for all Malaysians regardless of race or religion. This list of the minimum requirements of who we need and what we need them to do, will help as a framework for us to measure which candidate will be the best option.

In other words, this is a ‘contract’ you can ask possible andidates in exchange with your vote that is not considered as corruption.

Below is the contract I would ask for the calon-calon from Lembah Pantai area in exchange to my vote.

This is my list:

1. Speak on behalf of all Malaysians regardless of race or religion, at all times and never fight only for their community. If they fight for their community, they must balance it up with equal consideration for others.

2. Within the first year of their appointment, take a course to understand all the religious and cultural practices of Malaysians

3. Show clear appreciation and support that the Malay and indigenous customs form our core culture, while the Chinese, Indian and other cultures play strong supporting roles as part and parcel to form the unique Malaysia brand

4. Always practice empathy; e.g. – refuse to allow beef or pork to be served or sold in all government-related premises, projects and all party activities.

5. Be able to speak Malay fluently, and English comfortably. If they cannot, they have to take courses to learn and pass a proficiency test within their first six months.

6. Publicly declare their assets with a third party register

7. Propose to make the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) report directly to Parliament, within six months.

8. Promote economic policies that provide support to all Malaysians in the bottom 40% strata of society, regardless of race

9. Propose the enactment of non-party hopping laws within six months and continue to fight for it until the law is in place.

10. Initiate a process to work towards one-stream schools which also adequately provides for all who want to learn their vernacular languages, to be established within the next fifteen years. Propose a constitutional change to make this happen.

11. Go through a basic management program for the management of self, people and organizations. (I would recommend reading Peter Drucker’s books on management which includes all the essentials)

12. Refuse to work just for politics and your party, but for the people first. As such you will be prepared to go against your own bosses and fellow party members if they cannot meet the minimum standard requirements. When it comes to what is best for our nation, it is above politics.

13. Always look for the middle path that can move us forward; even when being pragmatic at times will mean choosing a workable compromise that will be better in the long run for the nation.