UNDI18: between reality and fallacy
I don’t know about the present generation, but in our days in the 1960s, the teenagers were more interested in wild parties, getting drunk, smoking ganja (which was not illegal back then and even police officers smoked it), Woodstock and all forms of music festivals and rock concerts, racing (bikes and cars), defying authority and going against the rules, and every form of anti-social behaviour you can think of.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
There were 15 million registered voters in 2018 and 12 million came out to vote in GE14. In GE15 there will be 22 million registered voters.
Going by statistics, 17 million voters should come out to vote, five million more than in the last general election. And more than four million should be between the ages of 18 and 21.
Barisan Nasional is expected to garner five million votes (half which will go to Umno), PAS-Bersatu three million votes, and Pakatan Harapan nine million votes.
That means with nine million votes, Pakatan will beat both Barisan’s and Perikatan’s eight million votes combined. But in terms of seats, Pakatan will win less than Barisan’s and Perikatan’s combined. Only if Barisan and Perikatan engage in three-corner or more contests will Pakatan be able to form the government.
Now, that is assuming the traditional ratio of registered voters to voter turnout is maintained. But then, since about six million of these new voters will be those aged 18 to 21, will this registered voters to voter turnout ratio be maintained?
Parties, sex, drugs and booze, not votes, was what mattered back then
I mean, let me put it another way, what were you doing when you were 18 or 19? What were your interests and priority?
I don’t know about the present generation, but in our days in the 1960s, the teenagers were more interested in wild parties, getting drunk, smoking ganja (which was not illegal back then and even police officers smoked it), Woodstock and all forms of music festivals and rock concerts, racing (bikes and cars), defying authority and going against the rules, and every form of anti-social behaviour you can think of.
We lived for today and to hell with tomorrow. Drunken brawls and crashing your bike or car were badges of honour. We would trigger chaos just for the fun of it and to get rid of boredom.
In the 1960s our generation lived for today and to hell with tomorrow
We did not care about Umno, Parti Perikatan, PAS, the Labour Party or DAP. Our motto was, ‘the only good politician is a dead politician’. Even if we had been allowed to vote we would not have bothered. Merdeka Day was not to remember the sacrifices of our founding fathers but a holiday to get drunk on beer and high on ganja.
Yes, life was different when we are 18 to 21. It was not until we were 25 or 27 when we became politically conscious. And, even then, politics meant opposing the government just for the sake of opposing the government — because all governments are evil and there is no good in any government (kids are wiser than adults).
Hmm…will the new six million voters aged 18 to 21 really bring any good to the democratic process? Let’s see in 2022 when GE15 is held. If the younger generation today is like how we were back in the 1960s, then I think nothing is going to change.
