I fully agree with Suresh Gnasegarah's idea to fully automate the voter registration exercise (' Time for EC to automate voter registration process '). Having studied in the UK for nearly three years, I had the chance to experience first hand the true meaning of the word 'efficiency'.

One day, out of the blue, I got a letter informing me about the coming local town council election. About a week or two later, a postal voting letter arrived. It had my name and address (university hostel address with my room number) on it. My fellow Malaysian students got them too.

Until today, I still do not know how exactly the local town council managed to get my name and address because:

• I've never registered myself with the local town council.
• I've never registered myself with the local police as Commonwealth citizens are not required to do so.
• I do not pay council tax as I live in the university hostel.

The most probable explanations must be either:

• The university's hostel occupant record; submitted to the police or local town council?
• The bank account holders' name; submitted to the Inland Revenue for interest taxing purposes? Or,
• The UK National Health Service's record?

Whatever their means of getting my name and address, it is plain to see the efficient process of voter registration and the openness of the British system. I did not even know that I was registered!

I am not even a British national but I am allowed to vote in the local town council election. I can have my say just for the simple fact that I live in that town, albeit for a couple of years. To the Malaysian government, where has become of our 'world class' IT infrastructures? Utilise it!

If the Election Commission do not have the required knowledge to adopt new technology, let's train them. It has been 16 years since 2020 but we are still have manual voter registration. Isn't it amusing? Time to wake up and learn, EC!

P.S.: Another interesting point is, the British do not currently have any identification card system like us. Even though, the problem of phantom voters doesn't seem to exists!