With the coming of my 21st birthday and the buzz of the elections... I have been tapping into the realm of politics in this country a little bit. Instead of ignoring conversations about politics, I would listen and instead of fighting for the remote so I can watch brainless kardashians or something ridiculous on E! Channel, I would try and sit as long as I can while my dad watches the 1.30 news on TV3.
I've not been totally ignorant all this while. For example, I always knew who our current prime minister was/is. HAHA. I know that doesn't count for anything considering how we only had a grand total of 2 names to memorise. So truth be told... that is a lie. I have been ignorant. I couldn't be bothered and until now, I'm not totally bothered. I am just trying to be a good public law student but that's better than not caring I suppose.
So my question is this.... is there any point of voting in Malaysia?
The current reigning party has been warming up the seats in the dewans for all my life now. Opposition simply does not exists.
Because the other parties were never given the chance to win (like, ever)... we as Malaysians have NO idea what we are supposed to expect. They can either be:
1. totally sucky, or
2. really really good
But we don't like change. We don't like trying new things. So how?
What if, by some sorta miracle, a tiny opposition wins... would that be SO bad? Maybe it's what we need! Maybe it can be a wake up call to those E!Channel watching youngsters (yours truly included) to flippin vote the next time if it's a screw up.
I would think that it would make sense, if i were an american citizen (for example) to vote. What I would do is listen to the speeches on TV, read about the promises that people are making to make the country a better place yada yada yada and then choose the president that I think would best represent MY country.
But why vote here when options are zero and our minds cannot conceive what it out of the norm would be?
As I was expressing my sentiments to mum, she said the whole country would be screwed if everyone thought like me. Haha. So true. I can hear uncles talking in my head already-tsk tsk... younger generation... all spoilt and ignorant... how's the future of the country going to be?
The point of my post is not that there isn't a point to vote.
The point is that there isn't a point FOR ME to vote. Can someone please convince me why I should be bothered? Don't give me an excuse that sounds something like... "ohhh if you think like that and if everybody also thinks like that then nobody's gonna vote, then the country how?". But hey, the fact is that not everyone thinks like me and the fact is that everyone's got their own opinions. I'm opened to those opinions. I want to hear reasons. I want to hear thoughts. I wanna hear convictions.
It's not like voting doesn't take an effort. I would rather use the effort driving somewhere and then lining up in a humid place somewhere (after I've registered, of course) to go shopping in bangsar for my white bag (which I'm still searching for by the way). Call me shallow, fine. At least I'm putting it out there. Most people already think like me, I'm positive. The difference with me is that I'm willing to change.
So please, have a conversation with me. Guide me to sites/articles or whatever that might change my mind.
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