COMMENT | When former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the dissolution of parliament on Oct 10, I was unprepared.

Well, his announcement was not really a surprise to me since the 15th general election (GE15) had been on the tip of everybody’s tongue for a while by then.

I was unprepared because the very next day would be my first shift at Malaysiakini as a trainee reporter!

On top of that, GE15 was bound to be my first opportunity to exercise my right to vote - I was only 20 during the previous general election, when Undi18 had yet to be implemented.

The one-and-a-half month since then has been an eye-opening journey for me and I can’t help but reflect on it.

I knew there were going to be new fundamentals of my possible future in journalism and my duty as a Malaysian. I took it upon myself to test the waters and see if I’d drown or just feel a little chilly.

Here’s my point of view of GE15, from the perspective of a trainee reporter and a first-time voter...