Reason To Vote

First of all, is casting a vote a 'right' (hak) or a responsibilty (tanggungjawab)?

In some countries (including Singapore), casting a vote is a citizen's responsibility. If you don't cast your vote you will be fined. In Malaysia, the TV used to air the 'Mari Mengundi' song which sings, " Marilah mari, pergi mengundi.. jangan lupa KEWAJIPAN (responsibility), pada negara". Is the government sending the correct message to the people?

Voting is not a responsibility to the Malaysians. It is just an 'OPTION' for those who are 21 years old and above. No action will be taken if they do not register or choose not to vote on the polling day. That is why many of us choose not to register, mainly because they don't care and they do not think it is their responsibility to vote for the next government. Even though they are 21 years old, but they do not have the maturity in believing that they NEED to vote for the best government. They are young and they are enjoying their life even though they do not vote. Most of them, do not believe that their vote can bring any change to the country. They take things for granted as they are convenient with the current lifestyle in Malaysia under the existing government.


They do not care how the tax money is being spent by the government as they do not pay any income tax due to minimal monthly salary received. That is why, they do not know that the government is wasting people's money for unnecessary payments and not serious in combating corruption. All these issues does not mean anything to them. So, why should they care to vote then?




I am 36 years old, and I never cared to vote before 2008. I did not care about which government rules the country as I too did not believe that my vote could make any change. But the wave to remove Pak Lah by voting anything but BN changed many of us. It triggers me to register myself as a legal voter and for the first time I cast my vote to oppose BN and to ensure that BN would not get 2/3 majority. Then I realized that my vote did made a change to the country when Pakatan Rakyat took control of 5 states.

From that moment, I started to push my friends to register as a legal voter so that their voices could be heard. Doesn't matter which party they are voting for. And since that moment, I realized that we need to change so that we could have a better Malaysia, the one without cronyism, no corruption, etc. and that is when I decided to launch this web blog 'Changing Our Mindset' for the purpose of delivering the untold stories to the Malaysians so that they know what is really happening, so that they would be able to make the right decision on the polling day.

Pushing your friends who has no interest to vote and does not believe in the voting system to register as legal voter is not an easy task. The main factor is that they do not believe in the system, so they won't bother to register as a voter as they do not think it is worth for them to register and to vote. I still can't convince many of them to register as legal voters!

I believe that thousands of Malaysian who was triggered to vote for the 1st time just to reject Pak Lah will remain loyal to Pakatan Rakyat and it is something that BN should be worried off. These are the people who are in favor for change and will continue voting for the alternative party in the big cities around Malaysia.

If you still have not registered as a legal voter, please visit any SPR booth available nationwide. It is not your responsibility to cast a vote but it is your right and, you have the option to  vote or not to vote on the polling day. Think for the future, a better Malaysia for our next generation including our kids, do not decide to vote just to appreciate what the previous government has done for the country because the current BN is not the previous BN. The current BN is only good in making promises, in spending people's money but does not put enough effort to fight corruptions, wrong doings,etc. and they can't even guarantee us a better Malaysia for our future generation. BN today is no longer the BN it used to be!

Corruption is worst than drug, if we can hang the drug traffickers to death why can't we hang a corrupt government to death? Not to forget, it is also a Muslim's responsibility to fight corruption or you will be answerable to Allah at Padang Masyar. It is also everybody's responsibility to fight any wrong doings, it does not matter what ever their religion is!

Renung-renungkan & selamat beramal!

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