So, the story about my first-time voter in Malaysia's GE15 starts here. The eligible age for this GE round is 18yo. Meanwhile, I'm 24 and the last GE, I was 20 whereby the eligible age was 21. Anyway, I was excited as I could fulfill my duty as a Malaysian. I didn't want to impart my opinions on political aspects. Rather, I just want to share my experience going to voting centre.
My polling station was at SMK Bakti while my sisters were at SK Pengkalan Jaya. I didn't know how we were parted like this since our address was the same. Maybe, I registered much earlier than them. I was in Saluran 1, which is for elderly and handicapped personnel. Well, I was in the second category. When I went to "meja semakan daftar pengundi", the officer who wrote it was shocked at first and ask the other one again for reconfirmation. She was like " saluran 1?!". Yup, it's me with my invisible disability. They might had been wondering what kind of OKU I am. "She seems normal, maybe she's mentally OKU, but she didn't look mentally ill" was what they might thought. I'm in physical category. Seems normal on the outside, but you can see subtle hint if you observe carefully.
After I got my piece of paper with saluran & number, I walked joyfully. I was very excited and expected saluran 1 to be a quick touch n go. However, luck was not on my side. As I arrived, there was already a long queue of grans, aunties & uncles. I was the only young people in that line. Chairs were provided, so I sat down first because I was having shortness of breath already. Later, an old granny came and cut in the queue, probably she didn't expect that I was also queuing. Later, she was asked to go first by others since she's older than them. The officers prioritize those in wheelchairs & sick elders to go first.
It took about 15 minutes before the queue started to move. What are they doing in there? Saluran 2 ahead of us already cleared after they queued for a few minutes. It was quite interesting when listening to conversations between the uncles & aunties. It's like a reunion of villagers & old friends. The waiting time until my turn took about 45 minutes. It was very long for saluran 1 if compare with saluran 1 at other polling stations.
And it was my turn. The officer read out my number, IC and name. It was on the first page, and supposedly "(OKU)" was written next to my name, but I didn't notice it (I only knew about it while conversing with my uncle that have the same circumstance as me). So, I dipped my finger, collected the ballot paper, places my bag in the basket and proceed to "X" the preferred candidate. My parliament had 5 candidates from 5 different parties. So, the ballot paper was quite long. I couldn't imagine how long the ballot papers for 10-corners match.
After putting my ballot paper inside the box, I went out and washed my hand at the sink provided. The ink was little bit messy but it's okay. I called my father while walking to the gate so that he would pick me up at the gate. I'd lost my energy tremendously queueing in the line. It was very tiring but I felt happy. Later, we both went to pick my sisters from their polling stations. They were in saluran 5, which was expected to be crowded than any other, but they also finished at the same time as me.
We still didn't have an official PM yet as of now (0002 hrs, 24 Nov), but I hope Malaysia will have a good PM and cabinet members that care for the people & country.
P/s: I'm an OKU cardholder as of July 2022, after years of battling with my inner voice. I was suggested to apply it much earlier (2019) by my aunt when I still cannot accept the fact that I might have to live with it for the rest of my life. This year, I decided to apply it and I have accepted this fate. However, I will still find ways towards full recovery. I started driving once again since I need to go to classes but I can only drive less than 30 minutes per trip. If not, I'll be having body ache for the rest of the day. And I need a lot of rest when I get home even if the journey is a short one. With my condition, I don't think I'll be able to have a family of my own. Kesian kt laki tu, tapi kalau ada jodoh tak ke mana. For the time being, let's live my single life to the fullest.
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