Malaysia Votes
On 9 May 2018 Malaysia Voted.
To say that it is a historic event is an understatement.
This piece is after-the-fact. Obviously. Because the Pakatan Harapan Government is currently ruling (our first ever change of government) and at our helm is 93 year old Prime Minister (the oldest Statesman in history). Our 7th PM who happened to be our 4th too. More of this in later entries perhaps, because I am waiting for the full Cabinet line-up to be announced.
Flashback: on the morning of 9 May I woke up, got ready and walked to the polling station which is just a stone's throw away from my house (approx. 200m away). At 7.58 am I joined the queue that had already snaked from the front gate to just a couple of metres from the back gate (approx. the line was nearly 500m in length).
Shortly after 8 am the gate opened and we went into our respective 'salurans' (voting lines numbered 1 to possibly 7, mine was Saluran 5). Then we had to wait for 1.5 hours while the queue moved along and I finally was able to cast my vote. The time on my watch was around 10.30am by the time I was done. I felt pride. Did my duty as a Malaysian.
Apparently on average around 60-70% (or more) of each constituent came out to vote. In good spirits. For Malaysia. For Once.
Let's compare this to the previous general election in 2013 (for yours truly): at 8 am the line was at the main entrance of the school & I was done in about 15 mins (from queue start time to voting time).
News report one day after: https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2018/05/10/long-queues-hot-sun-cannot-keep-voters-away-sense-of-camaraderie-all-round-as-klang-valley-folk-cast/
After a couple of hours it started getting dry and itchy, and I used a few scrubbing methods (soap, lotion, facial cream, facial scrub, body scrub) to remove it to no avail.
Finally the last bit on the nail I scrubbed off using a nail buffer.
To say that it is a historic event is an understatement.
This piece is after-the-fact. Obviously. Because the Pakatan Harapan Government is currently ruling (our first ever change of government) and at our helm is 93 year old Prime Minister (the oldest Statesman in history). Our 7th PM who happened to be our 4th too. More of this in later entries perhaps, because I am waiting for the full Cabinet line-up to be announced.
Flashback: on the morning of 9 May I woke up, got ready and walked to the polling station which is just a stone's throw away from my house (approx. 200m away). At 7.58 am I joined the queue that had already snaked from the front gate to just a couple of metres from the back gate (approx. the line was nearly 500m in length).
Shortly after 8 am the gate opened and we went into our respective 'salurans' (voting lines numbered 1 to possibly 7, mine was Saluran 5). Then we had to wait for 1.5 hours while the queue moved along and I finally was able to cast my vote. The time on my watch was around 10.30am by the time I was done. I felt pride. Did my duty as a Malaysian.
Apparently on average around 60-70% (or more) of each constituent came out to vote. In good spirits. For Malaysia. For Once.
Let's compare this to the previous general election in 2013 (for yours truly): at 8 am the line was at the main entrance of the school & I was done in about 15 mins (from queue start time to voting time).
News report one day after: https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2018/05/10/long-queues-hot-sun-cannot-keep-voters-away-sense-of-camaraderie-all-round-as-klang-valley-folk-cast/
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Google Doodle on GE2018 Day |
As usual, this entry is about me, me and me... about the ink that was used for dipping our finger into before voting. It does not and cannot come off easily.
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My finger- too overly dipped in ink |
One video went viral, that you should dip the finger in a solution of clorox (bleach) & lime. No thank you- that will be the death of me when my finger melts into the solution.
Then I saw another viral video- that the reside can be scratched using a more caustic material. The stone that is used to sharpen our kitchen knives. Tried that to some success.
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This is after the scrubbing down using the knife sharpening stone, which had to be done quite carefully I might add, to not tear the skin #gasp |
Finally the last bit on the nail I scrubbed off using a nail buffer.
Not looking too great yet, but okay. Manageable & no longer itchy. Yay!
Another friend recommended Veet (the hair removal cream) because it made it really easy to peel off the layer of ink. Perhaps I could try this one for the next election 😎.
Ookaaayy, to end on an intellectual note: Congratulations Malaysia for voting, for being patient when waiting to exercise our rights in democracy. For being brave in making a choice. For choosing what we consider is best for us and standing by the choice. For remaining calm during periods of uncertainty when the election results were withheld. For rooting for Tun M when he initiated some integration and restructuring steps. It was a proud moment to see him take his oath as PM.
The first 100 days has already begun. 20 days to be exact has passed and the beginnings of certain milestones can already be seen. To change, Malaysia must make itself great again, because we can and WE MUST!
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