GE13: The good, the bad and the LAUGHTER

FOR the next three weeks, your office colleagues will inadvertently talk about it; your friends will tweet their thoughts; family ties will be tested; and packs of varying coloured flags will distract you from your favourite models on advertising billboards.

From kopitiam to business events and wedding dinners to kenduri, opinions and political preferences will be louder and grow more passionate by the day.

Love it or hate it, there is no hiding from the ensuing 13th General Election (GE13).

Brace yourself, as we will be seeing emotions running high and so-called adults acting like children when they do not get what they want by throwing tantrums.

Immediately after the Election Commission announced May 5 as polling day in a packed media centre, my first thought was on the reasons behind the choice of that particular date.

At the same moment, the anticipated text alert came in. My hubby wrote: "May 5 > Sunday > no basketball game!"

For the last decade or so, he and his group of NBA wannabes had faithfully turned up for Sunday morning basketball games.

I am sure many Putrajaya residents will on that day be clutching umbrellas to keep out the sun and rain instead of donning their sports sneakers.

This also offers a good "Kodak moment" of Chelsea fans, Liverpool supporters and Manchester United followers in their respective jerseys, queuing peacefully in single file waiting their turn at the 8,245 polling stations nationwide.

Why May 5? After all, this was the same day when mass public protests erupted in Greece just three years ago in response to austerity measures imposed by the government.

On the other hand, it was the day when Gandhi was freed from prison in 1944.

Similar to everything and everyone around us for the next few weeks, the chosen date offers a contrast of opinions.

While we welcomed German philosopher Karl Heinrich Marx in 1818 and the world would be introduced to socialism and communism later in his lifetime, former British prime minister Tony Blair secured his historic third term in 2005.

As many of you will be queuing up for your LRT and KTM Komuter rides come polling day, some of you would be quietly expressing your gratitude to Gabrielle Chanel's introduction of her first perfume, Chanel No. 5.

Also letting out a huge sigh of relief on May 5 last year were our Asian neighbours as they witnessed the shutting down of the last nuclear reactor in Japan.

Come that dreaded Sunday evening, it could be of equal epic catastrophes akin to Japan's nuclear reactors for several GE13 candidates.

By the time the last vote is counted, they could either drown their sorrow at Andrea Bocelli's concert at the Putra Indoor Stadium, Bukit Jalil, scheduled for the same night, or join citizens from more than 50 nations in celebrating International Midwives' Day. Both events promise plenty of yelling and crying.

With May 5 a day of uncertainty and of serious decision-making, do take timeout while waiting your turn at the polling station to observe World Laughter Day, customarily celebrated on the first Sunday of May in more than 70 countries.

Judging from some of the on-going campaigning banter, there would not be any shortage of sources for laughter.

Now that the guessing game for GE13's polling day is over, let the nominations game begin.

And as prior to the announcement of May 5, rest assured that there will be just as many good, bad and laughter to go around.

- New Straits Times