COMMENT | Go out and vote, don't let it be just another day

COMMENT | Pulling out all the stops this election season, it seems a largely disgruntled rakyat is working hard to edge a newer, younger group of voters closer to the ballot boxes tomorrow.

While those in my inner circle aged 20 to 24 are more likely to know where they lean politically, many still remain clueless - which I don’t begrudge them for - on their role as voters and the nitty gritty of our political system.

This is not a ‘generational issue’ either. In this election, some older folks I met on the ground sound as though they are trapped in the early months of 2020, thinking, for example, that Dr Mahathir Mohamad is still the head of Bersatu. Where they have been all this while beats me.

But there are still those, in this increasingly digital post-Covid world, who are making great use of the internet as a means of disseminating information to the masses.

Take a look at the political education videos by infamous graphic designer and political activist Fahmi Reza - who is rarely without his beret and shades. He has taken to social media, armed with just a whiteboard, a marker, and some cutouts.

Going on a tour of universities across the country, students have flocked to his impromptu lessons - dubbed ‘Kelas Demokrasi’ where it is okay to start from square one, finding out the differences between a state assemblyperson and an MP, and so on.

Nevertheless, universities themselves have not been as keen, with the vast majority calling on auxiliary police to forcefully put an end to the controversial graphic designer’s educational visits.

Fahmi, who has had brushes with the authorities on multiple occasions, is unfazed by the whole fracas, most recently taking his class online with university students from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

Excesses of wealth

The Voteordie shop that has gone viral on social media in recent days also appears to step on the toes of figures from both sides of the political divide, for the sake of voter empowerment.

Designed to look like your regular online fashion retailer, the shop acts as a resource guide for voters this election season by highlighting expensive items that politicians have been seen with.

The excesses of wealth enjoyed by our politicians, by now, should not be a surprise in the post-1MDB world that we live in.

Taking a satirical approach, the website lists some items “for sale” including an RM1 million watch allegedly worn by incumbent Ketereh MP Annuar Musa and an Aquaracer CAF101A watch allegedly donned by Pakatan Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim, which goes for about RM7,000.

The former watch was cheekily captioned as being more than twice the estimated amount an average Malaysian needs to retire comfortably, citing a warning issued by Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) officer Nurhisham Hussein last month.

The Voteordie creators, 'digital enablement' agency C27, expressed the intention of highlighting “some of the immense wealth that Malaysia’s political elite have accumulated by various means over their years in service”.

“The average Malaysian wage is RM3,037. The minimum wage in 2022 is half that. Can Malaysians be accurately represented by politicians who flaunt jewellery and clothes worth more than what most Malaysians will ever see in their lifetime?" asked the company on the site’s About Us page.

The site shares links to the Parliament’s attendance list and Malaysiakini’s own election guide for first-time voters, as well as a list of 818 male and 127 female candidates vying for seats this GE15.

In a brief conversation with the team on the creation of the site, C27 CEO Fazil Fuad shared with this writer that, with the help of a small team of internal volunteers, the site was created within four days, “from ideation to visualising, researching and developing Voteordié”.

“The internet did the rest,” Fazil said.

The site has seen an overwhelming volume of online traffic, resulting in it crashing in the last few days.

Out-of-touch politicians

For the longest time, in democracies across the globe, the political apathy of disenfranchised voters and the rise of misinformation have given way to politicians who advocate far-right policies.

However, the tables have turned, for example in Brazil, which saw the end of Jair Bolsonaro’s term as president.

His rejection by the electorate showed a growing dissatisfaction with the leader’s pro-rich policies that, contrary to the belief of some, rarely favoured the ‘Average Joe’.

How long can Malaysians rely on cash handouts like BR1M from the gilded age of now-jailed Najib Abdul Razak? Do you want to be depending on political parties that insist on you forking out your EPF savings to survive, instead of shifting such burdens to the banks and the top one percent of society?

I can’t do college-level maths but it’s the economy, stupid.

While some countries are moving forward by embracing progressive politics in recent years, in Malaysia, big swathes of voters - if the various studies released ahead of the elections are right - still vote for out-of-touch politicians who, beyond the election season, have never set foot in an outdoor food court or a PPR flat, mingling with the neighbourhood Mak Cik Kiahs.

Yet, we forget, with many of us rolling over like attention-seeking cats who have been left by their owners on holiday at the sight of these buffoons.

Tomorrow, it’s as easy as drawing an “X” on the ballot paper. Get out and vote these fat cats and truant politicians out.

ALENA NADIA is a member of the Malaysiakini Team.

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