12th Malaysian General Elections

On 8 March 2008, Malaysians of all walks of life, who are of eligible age & who are registered with the Elections Commission (EC), came out to vote on a generally cloudy Saturday to decide the ruling line ups for states & the country.

For Mark, he woke up sometime around 9am. Parents settled their voting early morning & by the time I felt like going to my polling station, NIA text to say she also settled voting. I finally went to vote at noon, the same time as my neighbours.

It was smooth sailing going to the polling station & finding the room for me to vote it. Then, my transformation started. I was suspected to be a pengundi hantu. Yes, folks. Fear me coz I am (as the opposition parties wil accuse) 1 of those illegal voters who are brought in to help the National Front (BN) win. Bleh! What happened was that in the records of the EC, my full name includes my dad's Chinese name, which my MyKad doesn't. I was called by the person in charge in the room & questioned. I was also asked to fill in a declaration form to declare that I am the real deal & not a creature of the spirit world. :P I bluntly asked to the guy whether I am suspected to be of nocturnal origin & state that I've voted twice before & never had this problem before. He replied it's just a formality & I could vote after declaring I am me. I even repeated the allegation query to the lady who checked my name in the list, to which I believed she was a bit slighted in her reply (in Bahasa Malaysia) 'If it's up to me, I wouldn't care.' I finally voted & left for Tesco to do some shopping.

Fast forward 10 hours plus, news trickled that the opposition parties consisting of DAP, PAS & PKR were making gains & made giant killing feats against BN big guns. My phone was also ringing with text alerts that I subscribed just for the general elections. By the time I managed to sleep, the opposition became the ruling coalition for 3 states & denied BN the vital 2/3 parliamentary majority, a 1st in the history of BN.

To be honest, I am alright with the results of the general elections. Me feels Pak Lah ain't good as a PM. Whatever people say, I am a proud Che Det supporter. Just coz Pak Lah got the resounding victory in the previous general elections & has been basking in the feel good factor ever since, he hasn't done anything to even stand up side by side with Che Det. Well, Pak Lah, where's your feel good factor now? You should just retire now. If he did get another great result, I am sure he'll continue to govern the country fair & square, passing on any increase in prices or what not to the rakyat. So what if the Organisation I serve say we got x% growth? I don't see it coz I am hit by rising prices of goods & essentials as well as petrol price increases. Despite I don't swallow the crap DSAI said about bring down fuel price, it doesn't mean I like the higher price level it is at now.

I have rant much, incoherent perhaps. If I feel like it later, I might clean up this posting.

I pray this is a wake up call to the BN government to buck up & make amends with the rakyat.

On a final note, it heartening to see that Tok Mun managed a few hundred votes. :)

Till later, live long & prosper in this new Malaysian political landscape.