Boy, am i excited that the 12th General Elections is just this weekend. I like the number 12. Probably due to my affinity of being born on the 12th of December (12/12) and the fact that doughnuts are sold by the dozen. I’m planning to make the dash back to Penang to do my duty and then rush back to Klang on the same day for YF and also so that wifey will be able to cast her important vote too. My home state looks to be the most keenly contested state and i simply don’t want to miss out on the fun although I’ve got a real tightly packed weekend. I just love the atmosphere, seeing the streets awash with colourful posters (and the accompanying faces on them), witty slogans, signboards, rousing rallies, and that overused “X”-beside-party-logo design lining the streets all this tells me …. It’s election fever!
However, amidst all the excitement that been building up, there are some things that are still bugging me (and many others as well) about this coming elections. It’s precisely this, “Is the whole thing rigged from the start?” The latest debacle to their long list of high profile blunders is the U-turn on the usage of indelible ink. It only serves to heighten the public suspicions of the credibility of this body. It’s incredible that after going through all the supposed research and deliberations and then agreeing to the idea mooted (by Bersih) that they just call it off citing security issues on the same week the polls are to be held. Astounding! Didn’t they first study all the possible pros and cons of the idea before hand? Why couldn’t they see how the other countries using the system handled those possible security issues? What becomes of that enormous allocation of around 2 million that went into buying it? Now, if the reports are right from MalaysiaKini [link to report] that 47,000 bottles of India’s Mysore [link to company’s website] varnish were purchased and then from SPR [link to details] that approximately 36,000 will be used, what do we make of the access of over 11,000 bottles? Well, at least we still have the new see-through boxes (accompanying picture above) which wasn’t axed.. but one can’t help but wonder how transparent the EC really is. Something fishy is going on, again. It’s a major disappointment.
Lots of things are ‘up’ with in this country at the moment. Mess Ups, Cover Ups , Call Ups, Corr-Up’s ! (a pun) So, what’s up with us? There’s also the obvious oppression of freedom across some areas. Even my used-to-be-favourite “independent” newspaper theSun has suddenly become so pro-a-certain-party is a nauseating fact they might as well turn their red logo wording to blue. They used to be a great public watch dog and spoke up with their dogged and eye opening reporting (but recently taken over by Berjaya’s Vincent Tan). Control all the media and feed the public with propaganda fodder so that all the important issues are placed on page 4. I wonder if anyone else seemed to has realize when was the last time they read a Citizen Nades column? What we lack in Malaysia is transparency, but it just doesn’t seem to be happening. So, sadly the only thing I can enjoy about the daily these days are the McDonald’s breakfast coupons that occasionally come with it and their still excellent English Premiere League coverage.
Another thing that has been on my mind is the ruling coalition’s manifesto this year of “security. peace. prosperity”. Honestly, none of the 3 conclusively represent the one thing the I’d really love to see in this country. Security and peace virtually relate to almost the same thing and we all know that Malaysia has for the last few decades been relatively undisturbed (though slightly changed as of late, street protests and all). But the one that takes the cake for me was ‘prosperity’. We all know there’s an unbalanced wealth distribution that’s going to be hard to change here. [On that note, i believe we should credit our ruling prime minister Abdullah Badawi for his efforts to eliminate poverty in the rural areas. I personally think it’s a genuine attempt on the part of the man.] But with the policies that are set in place and which seem to have no end in sight ( eg. meritocracy, cronyism, N.E.P and AP’s) , is it a coincidence that none of the 3 points have anything that remotely relates to the rights of the people, freedom of religion and transparency? Sadly, I actually don’t think it does, and i believe they worded it very very carefully. So don’t expect too much when they are swept back into power that anything will really change. What they needed was a simple manifesto that would convince the public of their vote. A single word sums it up for me. “Equality”. I think that’s what is sadly missing here.
I love my country and I want to see it prosper and grow. I’m going to pray that the Lord will grant that the people voted into power will do the right thing and that this country will continue to be a safe place for us all. I’ll also perform my duty to get to the polling stations because that’s the voice and right I’m entitled to.
But now back to the fact that it’s the 12th General Election in our little country. I’m just sincerely hoping that it’s not going to be a Dirty Dozen.
Antioch Agent 
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