EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT GE13 BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK: FORMER DON PUBLISHES ‘MOST COMPLETE’ POLLS DATA

One man claims to have compiled the most comprehensive information on the 13th general election all by himself, which he said was done in one day.

Abdul Hamid Yeop Zainuddinm, a former mathematics professor from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), came up with his ‘Buku Sifir Keputusan PRU-13’ (GE13 Results Formula Book).

The 168-pages booklet contains page after page of tables, lists and numbers detailing various information categorised in numerous ways, about the 13th general election in May 2013.

Calling the task “mission impossible”, Hamid Yeop said it was his knowledge and skills as a mathematician that had allowed him to compile and complete this trove of information in one day.

“It took me a day to compile all this data.O

“That is impossible for a majority of people, but because I am a mathematician…I applied the concept of mathematics, so it became easy.

“People need facts, and I am just organising it for them,” he said.

The information is out there, he said; live results on the television, printed results on newspapers, and from the Election Commission’s website.

He merely collated the information into a booklet and came up with a system on a “dynamic webpage” to easily sift through the data, he said.

At one’s fingertips

The booklet, printed on double-sided A4 paper and bound in a plastic binder, includes information on the votes and a breakdown of the votes by geography, race, party, state seats and parliamentary seats, spoiled votes and so on.

It also has information on voter turnout, party key performance indicators (KPIs), percentage distribution of the seats and more.

Included is a complete list of candidates in the elections for both state seats and parliamentary seats, along with the number of votes cast, spoiled votes and the winning majority.

The candidates lists are presented in various ways, such as by the turnout, the majority votes, and by whether it was a multi-cornered fight or not.

The accompanying webpage is a simple-looking site, with functions that allow users to choose filters for the information one wishes to view.

The website contains most of the information found in the booklet and is open to public access, Hamid Yeop said.

The former professor, who said he is in his fifties, has been unemployed since 2004, after he was let go from UTM.

He said he has too many people seeking his expertise for him to keep any one stable job, and as such, his work is mainly sustained by sponsorship from friends.

Arming public with facts

This project on the election results is dear to him because the most important thing, he said, is to have all the facts and information on hand, for both the rakyat and political parties.

Then the rakyat can analyse the results for themselves and come up with their own conclusions, and parties can devise better-informed strategies, he said.
For example, he said, with the information on voters publicly available, the rakyat can see whether their registered address is accurate and whether there are any suspicious discrepancies.

Meanwhile, political parties can devise better election strategies based on the voting trends and patterns that emerge from the information, he said.

“I am an academician, I am neutral. Whoever wants to use this information in whatever way, it is up to them.

“We are giving facts, because there are those who lie and accuse others of lying. But armed with facts, we will know who is telling the truth, and who is lying,” he said.

– M’kini