If you have been doing blog hopping, you will find that election is the theme of the game at the moment. Besides what the ministers branded as ‘govt bashing’ type of entries, you will also see another type bashing… non-voter bashing.
Truly, I am amazed at the amount of people who are eligible to vote but never bother to even register. The kind of reasons they give you can sometimes be so ridiculous, you just feel like slapping some sense into them. One that tops my list is “Aiyah, BN sure win one la”. Of course, there are those who repeatedly complain about things and repeatedly reiterate that they will register but in the end, never got around doing it.
Anyway, someone was telling me that talking about these non-voters is a total waste of time; they are insignificant now. Instead, we should blog about more prominent issues. Well, I have to disagree.
According to Malaysia today, there are 26m Malaysians where 11m are registered voters and only 8m will come out to vote. Some of the balance 3m registered voters are out of the country who probably wants to vote but unable to do so; one being here in London who will be in Italy during election day.
Much has been said about the 8m voters out there. But what about the 15m who are not voting? And how many are eligible? If 50% of that 15m are eligible voters; that means there are 7.5m out there who can vote but are not voting! Heck, that is as much as the amount of sure-to-vote voters out there!
Let us attempt to analyse these 7.5m Malaysians who are not registered for whatever reasons…
I don’t know about you but I can say that 99% of the people who are not registered to vote are not exactly supporting the current establishment. To be prudent, say out of the 7.5m, probably 5m (or more) will probably vote for the opposition IF they are registered voters and vote. Now imagine… what kind of impact these 5m will make if they were to come out and make a difference.
In a game where a winner has to be established; and if your vote is for candidate A, a non-vote from you is indirectly a vote for candidate B. With talks about gerrymandering and phantom voters and certain voters being ‘transferred’ to other areas without them knowing it, I can’t help but to think of the significance of the 5m would be opposition voters.
I once mentioned before that “those who refuse to do anything because they rather not be part of the mess… by virtue of not doing anything… is part of the mess”. This statement cannot be anymore real than now.
Indeed, those who said “Aiyah, BN sure win one la”… they are actually right. What they don’t know is that they are reason why BN won and will probably win again. It is indeed an unfortunate truth that the future of the nation will not only be decided by those who are voting, but also by those who aren’t.
Truly, I am amazed at the amount of people who are eligible to vote but never bother to even register. The kind of reasons they give you can sometimes be so ridiculous, you just feel like slapping some sense into them. One that tops my list is “Aiyah, BN sure win one la”. Of course, there are those who repeatedly complain about things and repeatedly reiterate that they will register but in the end, never got around doing it.Anyway, someone was telling me that talking about these non-voters is a total waste of time; they are insignificant now. Instead, we should blog about more prominent issues. Well, I have to disagree.
According to Malaysia today, there are 26m Malaysians where 11m are registered voters and only 8m will come out to vote. Some of the balance 3m registered voters are out of the country who probably wants to vote but unable to do so; one being here in London who will be in Italy during election day.
Much has been said about the 8m voters out there. But what about the 15m who are not voting? And how many are eligible? If 50% of that 15m are eligible voters; that means there are 7.5m out there who can vote but are not voting! Heck, that is as much as the amount of sure-to-vote voters out there!
Let us attempt to analyse these 7.5m Malaysians who are not registered for whatever reasons…
I don’t know about you but I can say that 99% of the people who are not registered to vote are not exactly supporting the current establishment. To be prudent, say out of the 7.5m, probably 5m (or more) will probably vote for the opposition IF they are registered voters and vote. Now imagine… what kind of impact these 5m will make if they were to come out and make a difference.
In a game where a winner has to be established; and if your vote is for candidate A, a non-vote from you is indirectly a vote for candidate B. With talks about gerrymandering and phantom voters and certain voters being ‘transferred’ to other areas without them knowing it, I can’t help but to think of the significance of the 5m would be opposition voters.
I once mentioned before that “those who refuse to do anything because they rather not be part of the mess… by virtue of not doing anything… is part of the mess”. This statement cannot be anymore real than now.
Indeed, those who said “Aiyah, BN sure win one la”… they are actually right. What they don’t know is that they are reason why BN won and will probably win again. It is indeed an unfortunate truth that the future of the nation will not only be decided by those who are voting, but also by those who aren’t.
24 comments:
*keep my mouth shut*
hahahahhahaha
ok la..then there come along those who think that they r saint cos they vote..but they dare not speak of who they voted for..they dare not come out and hoot 9 the gomen..cos they "scared die"..they just think they r saint cos they voted..if they're a saint..then walk the walk, and talk the talk!
*keeping mouth shut about not being registered yet* hahahha
ps..no offence ok!!
it's "ok" for these people who don't bother to register to just have longkang MPs.
seriously, that's all they care anyway. while the country turn into a big longkang, they are only mindful about the longkang at their backyards and frontyards getting clogged.
but honestly, i couldn't be bothered with these people. in my office there are a few of them. and of all things that turn them off, apparently the ink on right index finger thing is a big no no. They can have all the longkangs they want.
sigh...
well said.
I verbally bashed a colleague of mine for not being bothered to vote even though he is registered.
Hope I kicked some sense into him. Last I saw, he printed the info on his polling station and all. So I guess he will go out and vote after all.
wonder how many 'voters' are real voters..
anyway, its a shame if a person is not registered to vote if he/she is eligible. that's the only rights we still have control over, and i don't understand why anyone would want to let it go.
*sigh
ammu.
zewt we cant take a gun and put it to their head and ask them to vote..i have just told ppl to pls try n fulfill thier responsibility....if some ppl can drive back to their hometown to vote i dont see y some dont bother to vote even if its near their house....
huei - ppl who vote are not saints they just r fulfilling their basic responsibility as a citizen of msia.....
Couldn't agree more. Allow me to repeat my comment at Gina's blog:
I have the same feeling of disgust when the people around me bitch about the state of things, then tell me they either haven’t registered or can’t be bothered to vote. The way I see it, if you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to bitch about things, cos you “asked” for it, indirectly.
Me, I’m heading back to my hometown next weekend and casting my vote. My second round! So excited. And the last round, my State candidate won, not my Parliamentary. This time I’m hoping both my options win.
People rule!
nothing can change the fact of non-registered voters anymore even if u tok till the cow comes home, coz registration has been closed for looong time...
agree! BN sure win... close 1 eyes also can win.. you know why? if you read malaysiakini and other blogs, there are few 100 years old candidates listed on the record.... do you think there are free votes for BN or what?
huei - but i am very clear who i am voting right? or who i will vote if i am in malaysia...
myop101 - what the fuck!!! they dont want to vote cos they dont want to have ink on their nails??? screw them!
frostee - is that is the case... keep the verbal bashing going.
tulipspeaks - they just dont care... or they just think they dont matter. fucked up ppl really.
loon - hmmm...i think that is a bit too much.
economist - yo economist! damn right... i would have driven back home if possible.
kennymah - kudos to you kenny... indeed, those who made the most noise, if they are not voting, we should give them a piece of our mind.
sharlydia - doesnt mean we cant bash them... hehe...
vickie - all the more the rest of the ppl out there must go out and vote isnt it?
You're right. We all should appreaciate freedom. Back in the days when we were opressed and ruled by another nation, people struggle, strive, even fight to their deaths for freedom and a voice. Our generation... Aih...
I agree, vote, vote, vote! Have a say and make a change.
lol, aleckii you won't be able to vote here la, anyways, BN sure win la !! haha i'm becoming like everyone else!!
Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to vote since I was away from home ever since I was eligible to..If you by any chance are dropping by Milan for your trip, let me know and I would love to bring you and your wife out for dinner or smthg :)
Aleckii - freedom is so subjective now... do we truly have freedom?
ad - hey! welcome to AZAIG. sigh... dont join the crowd la.
crys violette - i am indeed going to italy. but am giving milan a miss. heard it's not as nice as rome and florence. besides, it's all about shopping right? anyway, thanks for the invite...
dear zewt,
exactly! i am upset to hear those bullshits too... tired of telling these people to make a difference. if all they care is their manicure, they can have a huge longkang right in front of their doorsteps!
btw, the registration is not closed. it is still open. for this election, the cut off is 4th quarter 2007 registered voters. if anyone wants to register now, they should, in preparation for the 13th general elections!
so little comments for this post? unlikely lor..
guess most ppl here are not gonna vote or have not registered . thats why not commenting:P
those who said that registration has been closed, bear in mind the registration is open all year long. for the 12th GE, the train has indeed left the station but yet u can always register for the 13th GE and so on. so please do ur part.
just put it in ur head while u choose not to vote, there are still other people in this world who are being denied of their rights to vote.
yet if that fact doesnt mean anything at all to u, then consider this. report has come out that there are incidents of the SPR having several individuals in their daftar pemilih registered as voters in some constituencies. the issue here is those individuals had never at all in their life register themselves with the SPR as voters. and to make things worse their name and IC number appear as voters in some constituencies which they had never live in or been to.
what is possibly going on here is a situation of the BN/SPR using these existing malaysian citizens who is alive but had never bothered to register as their ever reliable pengundi hantu. and these happened because there are possibly millions other malaysians who choose not to register and indirectly contribute to the manipulation of our democratic system.
the analogy is simple for the BN/SPR, if these people dont even bother to register as voter, why not use them as our own voter, just to increase the chance of us winning the seat?
yaya i know who u will vote..i dun mean u!! i mean some ppl i know who seems so proud cos they r gona vote
i know i am wrong la for not being registered..but somehow they just tick me off >.<
anyway i know it's not about winning over the scale..something which i'm doubtful of..it's to show them that more and more ppl disagree with their corruption, and are willing to stand up, they're gona get less votes, and sooner or later..they WILL loose!
some of my colleagues went to register to be voters 2-3 months back and yet their names not exist in the spr website check... haiz.... sad...
myop101 - hahaha... too late for this one though.
winn - sickening thing really...
lucius maximus - just too much dirty tricks there-in and i am really sick of all of them. it worries me too... that BN will still win big.
huei - well, if u want them to lose... better register soon lor.
pikey - they know your colleagues are... not the voters they want...
The thing is why is there a need to register! It's an extra step of inconvenience that the govt is using to stop people from voting against them!
I dont see why using our MyKad is not sufficient as eligibility. A person without MyKad cannot vote, thats it.
And using MyKad will also make use of the NRD's database of the deceased - instead of a now separate system that contains a few thousand dead man voting.
Josh - well... doesnt quite matter now... :)
Hello Everyone,
I just uploaded two episodes (aprox 7 minutes each) of SubmarineChannel's latest MiniMovie “Dear Oprah”.
(The MiniMovie project are episodic documentaries of 8 to 10 episodes each)
In Dear Oprah, a crew of young European filmmakers set out to search for America’s missing voters. Episode 1 and 2 are now online. The first stop on their journey is Columbus, Ohio. A single mom and her kids in a poor neighborhood give us a chilling introduction on what voting can be like in the US. Ep. 1 also includes an interview with Norman Ornstein from the American Enterprise Institute.
In one of the upcoming episodes, the crew visits the Obama campaign rally with Edith Childs in Greenwood.
http://www.minimovies.org/documentaires/view/dearoprah
submarine - thanks but no thanks.
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