COMMENT | My top 8 songs to listen to on polling day

COMMENT | I have just finished voting in my constituency of Lembah Pantai. We went as a family because my wife, parents and mother-in-law are all voting there.

The feeling is a little different this time around and the 15th general election (GE15) doesn’t seem to have the huge spirit that GE14 had back in 2018.

Many things have happened since then such as the Sheraton Move, the return of BN, Covid-19 and the forming and breaking up of political coalitions, that could have been the cause of however we feel now.

But other feelings are cropping up. This could just be me but I think the whole nation feels it too.

Just like last year on polling day, I came up with a playlist of songs on my Spotify app that I listened to while driving to the polling centre.

Here are my top eight for GE15:

Long Road To Ruin - Foo Fighters

Personally, although they are one of my favourite bands, I think that the Foos really write music that means nothing at all!

But their songs have different meanings for me on a personal level that might not be the same for others. For me, this song represents how everything is crumbling, but at the end of the day, we still need to move on and make the best of it.

Come Together - The Beatles

Apparently, the song was written by John Lennon as a campaign song for a politician. I really don’t care who the politician was because it was way before my time.

But the lyrics and song seem to be a call for people to unite and err… come together. At a time when everything feels so polarised, maybe we all should see compromise instead of trying to create lines of who is good and bad.

We’re Going To Be Friends - The White Stripes

Building on this sense of coming together instead of apart, here’s a song that just sounds so joyful and naive that it invokes such a feeling of inclusivity and friendship.

It’s just about two kids who are friends and they walk to school together every day. Their friendship seems to be so deep that it can last the test time as they grow older.

Good Riddance - Greenday

To me, this song by Greenday means that everything changes and people move in different directions and we need to accept that.

Nothing remains the same and even if we feel like the best has passed, it doesn’t mean we can’t create better moments in the future. Life just goes on and we need to make the best of it.

All My Favourite Songs - Weezer

Weezer, one of my all-time favourite bands, wrote this song that represents to me everything that is contradicting in life but it is okay and, probably, is the best way to move forward and progress.

We can’t control everything and we feel however we feel, but it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong.

Tender - Blur

This song was initially written as a breakup song with a girlfriend, but it eventually became a song that called for unity in the band after lead singer Damon Albarn and lead guitarist Graham Coxon had a row and Coxon left the band.

Albarn would go on to sing this song and call on the audience to sing along loudly, especially during the parts which Coxon usually sings.

It was his way of saying that he missed his friend and hope he would come back (which he eventually did and Blur became whole again).

I Just Can’t Wait To Be King - The Lion King

Looking at Malaysian politicians and how the elected ones are administering the country, I’m sure many of us have thought that we can actually do a better job than they can. There are so many things we feel we can do better if we were in their position, right?

In the movie, Simba felt that his life would be wonderful once he became king, right?

Sejahtera Malaysia - Zurin Aniza (sung by Sheila Majid)

After GE14 in 2018, many felt so patriotic and nationalistic. We had managed to achieve the impossible, which was to change government for the first time in the history of the nation.

This old song which was sung again by Sheila Majid post GE14 for the film “Rise - Ini kali lah” was a real emotion-jerker for us all.

Listening to it now still gives me goosebumps and fills me with hope.

I don’t know if these songs appropriately symbolise how I feel about Malaysian politics at the moment, so I guess I’ll summarise it.

I feel like the country is making good progress politically. With the different coalitions that have been formed, the best way forward won’t see any coalition being dominant. No matter what happens, negotiations need to take place and compromises need to be made.

Like it or not, the different coalitions will have to learn to work together. We need to move away from parties and coalitions accusing each other of being bad.

Enough of polarisation and let’s start working together.
Only then, a good check and balance can happen. As I have written before, a unity government with a clear confidence and supply agreement (CSA) could be the way forward.

So, as we head into counting votes, let’s see what happens tonight and tomorrow morning. Will there be a clear winner tonight? I highly doubt so.

Whichever coalition wins the most seats will still not have enough to form the government on its own. We’ll have to see how they negotiate with the other coalitions and hope that the best compromise happens for the people.

Good luck, everyone.

ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary film-maker, journalist and academic. He had waited so long for a change in the system and he is not willing to settle for a half-past-six change. And then the Sheraton Move happened. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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