Balloting #PRU14

The day has finally arrived. The day started early for me and I had to confess that I was feeling excited. Although it was not the first time I would be casting my vote, there was something in the air today which made me feel optimistic.

And it had nothing to do with Diva Azwan Ali whose name will appear on my ballot paper.

I went straight to the ward for a quick round, and since Julia was sorting out my Mum at the Bukit Antarabangsa with her vote, I decided to have a quick breakfast first.

That final pushPAS had a woman candidate here... and a big flag!I finally arrived at Bukit Antarabangsa at 9.30, joined the queue in the bright morning sun which was a good 150 meters long. The first lot - including my Mum - had already fulfilled their duty and had left the centre. Plenty of people were canvassing, including the Parliament Candidate for a certain party who came to shake our hands, trying to convinve us to vote for her if we remained undecided. The whole situation was jovial, plenty of banter and everybody were in good spirit.

But unfortunately, SPR was not at their efficient best. It took me almost 3 hours to complete the process and not without some confusion in between. And that was despite knowing my lane and serial number up front.

The Menteri Besar has his state seat here at Bukit AntarabangsaBN was based across the road. And they lost big here!The queue was just as long back in 2013, but it took me less than a quarter of the time. The instructions this time were pretty confusing, as we were told to queue at a wring lane, with people coming later being able to get in front.

I thought that the wait was over when I got into the voting centre compound, but it was not to be. It took a good hour before thengs were moving and I felt that the procedure could have been refined and more efficient. Luckily, there were no incidence at the centre because if so, I don’t think that the SPR were able to cope.

Entering the voting centre compound finally ...Not much longer to go ...All done ...I was done by noon and headed back to the apartment and had a shower before going out again for lunch at Pavilion. The city centre were very quiet and with the nice weather, I decided to enjoy the day.

Next came the wait for the results ....

Let's Vote

I was quite surprised that I got the ballot paper for the upcoming MMA - Malaysian Medical Association - election as I renewed my membership - into Life Member - only late last year. But I was not about to complain.

On the ballot paper, there were more than 40 candidates vying for 9 posts. Some of the names were familiar. Some were introduced to me by colleagues from work. So, in the end picking the candidate was quite straight-forward. What was left was to find a Doctor to be the witness when I sealed the envelope. Hmmmm .... Who should I bug?

Done My Bit

A mad dash right after sorting out my early morning admission and ward patients across time, I started my queue at the voting centre at around 10.20 in the morning. It was actually late, as some of my colleagues had already passed their votes before doing their morning rounds. Being on call last night left me with little choice. And the sun was blazing!

It was a couple of hours later before I casted my vote, but it was a worthwhile wait. Some friendly banter all around. I was still registered at my mother's place at Bukit Antarabangsa, meaning that my state seat would be Bukit Antarabangsa and the Parliament being Ampang. Both were held by Pakatan the last time around.

I parked my car at my Mum's place, not risking having to find space nearer the polling station. As soon as I arrived, my Mum was already there waiting for me in a political party vehicle. A free ride. And then I started my long queue which snaked around the polling centre.

At the start of the queueLate canvassing was happening, with both parties offering drinks. Those more than 60 years-of-age were ushered to the front of the queue - which nobody minded. I had twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep me company, and pretty soon, I was laughing away in the bright sunshine, snapping pictures in between.

I was due to be joined by my sister, but she was held up in Melaka as her husband was voting there. She only arrived as I was about to leave.

The was no drama at the polling centre. Everybody seemed in jovial mood. The lady and her partner in front of me declared that they were first-time voters and were excited about the whole process, kept checking on a piece of paper with them as to which lane they would be using later during casting. I finished a couple of bottles of drinks before it was my turn to vote.

The checking of the names on the list through a computer came first, after which I was given a slip as to which lane I should be follow and which room I should use. I got the lucky number four. Luckily, there were not that many people on my lane.

In the voting room, I handed the officer my IC and the lane slip with a serial number on it for them to find my name in the main registry. My name was read out loud, and a tick and a cross was put by my name after it was announced. At the next officer, I was asked to show my left index finger, which was later smothered with the now famous blue ink. The next officer handed me my ballot paper, which I inspected for marks. It was clean. So off I went into the booth.

There were two pieces of paper to cross, a parliament and a state seat. They were both two-prong fights between BN and Pakatan, UMNO and Keadilan. All Malay candidates. Then came the folding of the paper and inserting them into the two ballot boxes, one for parliament and the other for the state seats of course.

BeforeAfterI have done my responsibility, and now, I was hoping that those at the receiving end would be executing their duty in counting the votes honestly as well. May the best candidate win …….

The Day Before

Wow! The myth about today being a slow day had been shattered. My clinic this morning was full, and being on call today, I had admissions coming into critical care bards already. Emergency Room also looked filled. Hopefully not many admissions as I planned for a slow day leading up yo the election day tomorrow.

I will be voting at Bukit Antarabangsa. And after listening to scary stories from colleagues who had their name disappeared from the registry, I was keeping my fingers crossed. On the blast check, my name was up. Hopefully, there would be no surprises tomorrow.

So, a quick early morning ward round first thing tomorrow morning, followed by a drive to my Mum's and we planned to vote there with the rest of the family.

Wishing for a peaceful voting day ......

Hung Parliament

I was quietly following the election in the UK in the last few weeks. I guest, my interest in politics have not diminished over the years. I hate to be political. I believe that the best philosophy in blogging is to write your best and connect the rest. It is best to write about things you are familiar or passionate with and browse the internet and link the rest that you don’t know much about. Therefore I am not going to talk much about election here - you can get plenty of them kind of talks from the mass media - after all, you know who owns them.

When I was in the UK, I had the opportunity to cast vote a couple of times, including the time when Labour and Tony Blair came into power. In the UK, once you are a PR, you get to vote, so I did. The voting there was more civilised. The debate on the television were more mature in civilised. Not of this mud slinging, and certainly, the government got not much say on what the BBC publish. In fact, BBC tended to be vehemently honest, exposing the flaw of the government. None of this cover-up. Another very obvious difference was the print media. There were at least three main broadsheet newspaper in the UK, and they were open in their support of certain political parties. They were openly biased, but at the same time, the articles were very succinct and well-research. I know a few newspaper people locally, some of them being my patients, they were not allowed to be opened unfortunately. They can’t really write what they wanted, or at least their editor will not allow certain things being printed for fear of phone calls later pushing them for resignation. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean … and this was coming from a Government supporter ….. Sad isn’t it.

The campaign in the UK were also more subdued but more personal. The actual candidate will go to the doorsteps of their constituents. Something that only happen here during by-elections. Look at the focus the MIC candidate got during his campaign in Hulu Selangor. I was sure he will cringe thinking about it looking back 20 years!

It turned out that the Conservatives did not quite get the ⅔ majority they wanter. They got the simple majority and will have to broker a government somehow in the next few days. The obvious loser was the Lib Dem. I was expecting Nick Clegg to gain more seat compared to the last. That would have eaten the Labour votes and allow for a clearer result. Shall wait, see and hear the debate. Fascinating. Wishing that one day, this will happen in Malaysia.