Reformasi Needs A Reform

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Coming out of the Johor state election from Layang-Layang and back to the urban centre where I live, I was bombarded with all kinds of comments and questions.
Many were solicited but mostly were unsolicited. But it’s okay. Talking politics is something I like to do anyway. So I do indulge in these conversations.
“Alamak Zan! Looks like BN is back!”
“One step forward and three steps back lah bro!”
“Not enough people came out to vote lah! That’s why!”
The fact of the matter is that BN won the Johor election fair and square. There are no solid or hard accusations of any major foul play.
No issues related to the elections of yore such as black-outs, suspicious vehicles carrying suspicious ballot boxes or anything like that. Neither were there any significant reports made.
The polling day happened, the people came out to vote and it was counted at the end of the day and the winners were declared and the losers conceded. Plain and simple.
There is nothing in the shadows or between the lines. So Pakatan Harapan (also Perikatan Nasional and Pejuang) and their supporters just have to accept that.
You can blame it on the low voter turnout if you want. As we know, the figures are around 60 percent in the whole of Johor, and more or less similar in Layang-Layang too. But I strongly believe that this really doesn’t matter because there is a reason as to why these voters did not come out.
Significant Malay voters
From my personal observations, the Malay voters came out quite significantly. A majority of them voted for BN. Many voted for Harapan, but, as I said, a majority still voted for BN. The Indians came out to vote. The reflection of their vote is the total opposite of the Malays. A majority voted for Harapan, although a significant number still voted for BN (MIC won in all their contested seats, didn’t they?).
The Chinese, who makes up approximately 40 percent of the voters, were the ones that refrained from heading out to vote. For those that did go out, a majority voted for Harapan. I would assume that those who didn’t vote wouldn’t have voted for BN, but they didn’t want to endorse Harapan at the moment either.
This could be for many reasons. I would interpret it as them being disillusioned with what Harapan can and will actually do. The Chinese community probably feels that voting for BN won’t serve them any good, but voting for Harapan, well… what’s the point, right? So, many just decided to stay home.
Sure, we can still lay some blame on the fact that an election was called during a pandemic with many health and social restrictions in place. I can’t deny that this would have affected the voter turnout situation, but I’m convinced that it wasn’t by much. People would have come out if they wanted to.
Youth vote
Another observation that I made is that the youth vote didn’t really go the way Harapan expected it to go. Undi18 was working for the first time and they were excited to vote. I don’t think the low voter turnout was because of those between 18 and 21 years old.
They did come out. Muda might have won one seat and many youths did vote for Harapan, but a majority still voted for BN.
I believe that they were not impressed with what Harapan had to offer them in this election. Remember, this is a state election and a majority of the constituencies are semi-rural and rural.
From what I hear on the ground, they are more concerned about issues like education, job opportunities, infrastructure and facilities that aid in their interests like sports and leisure (which would actually curb social problems too).
They are not concerned about the big national issues that Harapan politicians are constantly harping about like the 1MDB corruption scandal. Sure, they are aware of it. It is an issue of concern for them, but it is probably not at the top of their priority list as compared to the more direct issues.
That leads to my next observation of how the big issues are probably not as big anymore for voters. I am not saying that the mega corruption issues in Malaysia aren’t important anymore. They definitely are. But it is no longer the only issue that should be harped on about.
Coming out of a pandemic
We are coming out of a pandemic. Covid-19 still needs to be dealt with. We have major issues with the state of our economy. People are losing jobs, companies are losing revenue and the cost of living is increasing. And what about the education of our children? Two years of an interrupted system due to a pandemic has had adverse effects.
The youth are also tired of the old guard. All the Abahs, Datuk Seris and Tan Sris that came down to campaign for their respective parties did not appeal to them.
What is it to them to see a 90-year-old, 80-year-old, 70-year-old or 60-year old come and talk to them about issues that aren’t of their main concern? They already see them in the media talking about the same things. No need to see them in person.
So I feel that it’s time for a big paradigm shift in the politics of Harapan, Perikatan Nasional and Pejuang. We need reform (for lack of a better word!). No matter what you may think, Malaysia and its people have actually progressed quite a lot in the recent years since the 2018 general election.
With that being said, these are just my observations through talking with people, reading reports and studying different surveys and research done from being in the field in Johor during the state’s election.
Take it with a pinch of salt, sugar, pepper, turmeric or whatever you will. I just thought I would throw it out there. - Mkini
ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary film-maker, journalist and academic. He had waited so long for a change in the system and he is not willing to settle for a half-past-six change. And then the Sheraton Move happened. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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