A note to the wakil rakyat

I seek to vote with my mind and not my heart. I am a person who uses logic and reason to drive and dictate my decisions.

COMMENT

By Aravindan Sheridoman

The 13th general election is here, and it is shaping up to be the most important election in Malaysian history. One side wishes to remain in power while the other side seeks to be in power.

In the middle, deciding the turn of events, will be the millions of ordinary voters, who now find themselves with a great burden: to choose or not to choose.

In my journey to choose, I had the chance to sit in on a political ceramah in a recent visit to my hometown in Perak. The atmosphere was bullish, with various speakers coming on stage to loud applause from the huge crowd. Emotions ran high when allegations of corruption, promises of free this and that, claims of villainy and treachery and whatnot were made.

I seek to vote with my mind and not my heart. I am a person who uses logic and reason to drive and dictate my decisions. Hence, when the candidate standing in my area delivered his speech, I was full of questions.

He touched on oil royalties, free education for all, lower fuel prices, national bankruptcy, cronyism, nepotism and corruption. His speech was delivered to loud applause.

I stood up to ask him a simple question: since he is standing here, if he wins, what is he going to do for the constituency?

Either I caught him off guard or he did not have a clue. His reply was that he had just explained it all in his speech. I told him that he spoke on the macro view – on the nation, and on what his party and coalition would do if it wins.

On the contrary, I was asking about the micro view – what he is going to do for the local rakyat as their representative.

There were so many local issues: irregular garbage collection, broken streetlamps, rising crime such as snatch thefts, roads riddled with potholes, families living below the poverty line, rising unemployment among local youths, and unsafe low-cost flats turning into drug havens, among others.

Again, either I caught him off guard or he really was clueless.

I am sure everyone of us is caught up in the political euphoria, championing our respective parties and candidates but have we ever stopped to ask: “What do we, the common people, stand to gain?”

A government is of the people, by the people and for the people. Democracy and the right to vote ensures that the voices of the common people will be heard and their concerns addressed.

Parliament is the people’s house and the wakil rakyat we elect are the voice of the people.

The wakil rakyat is obliged to serve us

The wakil rakyat must serve without fear or favour the common people and not any political party or coalition. Wakil rakyat means a representative of the rakyat. It doesn’t mean a representative of a party or coalition. We vote them into Parliament to have our voice – and not the voice of political parties or coalitions – heard.

Good governance can be achieved, regardless of party allegiance, if the representatives unite for the rakyat to build a better Malaysia. It does not matter which river you are in for all rivers lead to the sea and the sea that we seek is simply good governance.

As a youth, I, for one, have many issues which pained me. I refuse to listen when I am not allowed to talk. I refuse to be patronised, to be thought incapable of independent thought or to be taught what is against my conscience or common sense. I refuse to be stifled or muzzled in any way.

I refuse empty political promises, to be indoctrinated to hate my fellow citizens on the basis of race or religion. I refuse to be looked down upon or taken for granted on the basis of age, qualification, ethnicity, education, culture or creed.

What I want is to be engaged as equals. What I want is a coherent, valid, viable, sustainable strategy that will solve our problems.

Stop patronising us

Statistics indicate that there are about 100,000 unemployed graduates. Are these youths supposed to be pillars of society while being unemployed? Are they supposed to contribute to nation-building when they do not even have jobs?

There are so many macro and micro issues plaguing youths today and truly, whosoever engages us as equals will see us from our own viewpoints. No matter how many times you ask us to listen, we will not unless we are heard as well. Don’t just look intangibly at us youths as pillars of society; engage us tangibly as pillars of society.

How hard is it to understand that we are not asking for handouts once every five years but instead we, the rakyat, are asking for a hand to help us stand on our own two feet? I despise the fact we are often bribed with promises and then left out to dry once the election is over.

I am irked when we are patronised as if we are children waiting for sweets. We understand the complexities of nation-building, we understand the complexities of governance, of elections, of economy, of voting, of laws and more.

Hear us, listen to us and talk to us. Engage us as equals instead of looking down on us as gullible children once every five years.

As for the ceramah I attended in my hometown, once it was over, the candidate stopped by my side to ask my age. Once I told him, he complimented me for speaking out so well but then said I was too young to understand certain things. At this point I wondered whether I was too young or he was too old to understand.

He also told me that voting for him will ensure that youths like me will be taken care of, leaving my cynical inner mind to wonder: “Most likely the same way clicking ‘like’ on Facebook will feed a starving child in Africa.”

What do I seek for Malaysia? Liberty and equality, freedom and fairness. Malaysia now and forever.

Aravindan Sheridoman designs and builds custom drones. His interests is in technology, especially future technology and how it can be used to better communities. He is also an ardent proponent of youth empowerment.