election fever

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As people elsewhere on Earth celebrate Cinco de Mayo, the rakyat of Malaysia face our 13^th General Election.

Growing up, I had never been interested in the politics of my country. We had neither war nor famine; things were pretty fine as it was. Even when I entered my teens, politics had never been a topic that came up in discussions with my friends. My dad’s half of the family kept up with the news, but that was it. I tuned out whenever politics was brought up because I didn’t know these people or what they did.

I was in my final year of high school during the previous general election. There had been rumblings and issues were stirring up in the months preceding the election. When the opposition party won over a surprising amount of votes, everyone was thrown in a loop. The rakyat rejoiced upon discovering that yes, we could make a difference and make a stand. For the very first time, we had truly shaken BN to their core.

Years went by, and here we are now.

For the very first time, I was truly excited for Malaysia’s general election. In the months leading up to this election, a myriad of issues were brought to the attention of the rakyat.

See, the government may stifle our voices in the newspaper, radio, talk shows, and even news networks, but one media has managed to become a major platform for voicing our opinions – the internet.

Facebook and twitter gave us information – untainted information – from both parties practically instantaneously. Rallies and gatherings were planned and the word spread like wild bush fires.

Most importantly, it got us youths interested in politics. My bubble of ignorance was finally popped. Maybe it was because I was finally approaching a voting age. Maybe it was because my parents’ problems and the rakyat’s problems have become my problems too.

Regardless of the reasons, I tuned in to check with the results of the general election. To my surprise and joy, I wasn’t the only one affected by this political awareness. My friends were all talking about it. My sister and her friends were talking about it too. It seemed as though everyone was talking about it.

I had multiple windows opened with live result updates and discussions going on with my family and cousins.

As the results slowly trickled in, we waited on the edges of our seats, clicking the refresh button even though the websites came with auto-refresh features.

Way too many hours later, our dreams were absolutely crushed. The disappointment started slowly.

Foreigners were allegedly brought into the country and given Identity Cards (ICs) just so they could vote for BN. My own mother has been in this country for more than twenty five years and she still can’t vote but someone who has been in my country for a mere two days can suddenly vote?

The “Indelible” ink used wasn’t really indelible at all because it had to be “halal”.

Blackouts occurred at counting stations where the opposition had strong leads. Lo and behold, the opposition loses in the end when additional ballot boxes are miraculously found.

To be honest, I didn’t expect the opposition party to win the parliament. They would win states over, yes, but the parliament would be tricky to win over, especially since Sarawak gave BN a strong win with multiple parliament seats from the very beginning.

But for the first few hours, it was a pretty tight race, with the opposition party behind by only about ten seats or so. There was still hope. The rakyat held out for that hope. We were all waiting in anticipation.

More hours passed and the general results were in.

Many people were disappointed and outraged. They felt cheated by this election.

We did not “topple” the government, but tonight was no small achievement either. Change does not come easily. It is not a revolution that occurs overnight. It may feel like we’re taking baby steps, and maybe we are, but what happened tonight was no small feat. There has been progress made.

80% of voters turned up to vote, and this is a record high for Malaysia.

Political awareness has swept through the country like never before.

I see the Malaysian youths take a pro-active stance in our country’s politics and I have to feel proud of this achievement.

The rakyat banded together and made a stand. 

We have loss, yes, but this isn’t the end of the road. We are merely paving the road for a better future.

Many people are demanding actions to be taken or roaming around the streets with parangs. Heck, a whole bunch of people and starting petitions to get the UN or even America involved.

Sleep over it. Don’t do anything rash. Let the dust settle before we try to tackle these problems.

Getting outsiders to interfere is not the way we should settle this. Seriously, we do not need history to repeat itself. Remember when we asked the British for help? Look how well that turned out for our past Sultans. We need to stand together as a nation and face our own problems.

The disappointing events have nearly turned me away from politics but I have faith in the rakyat. We need to stand strong proceed from here. We do what we can in the next five years because every little progress counts.

And at the end of the five years, we, the rakyat, will face the 14^th general election, more prepared than ever.