With a father who is so passionate about current issues and politics that he dreams about them, it should not come across as a surprise that when my primary school teacher asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, without hesitating, I said I wanted to become a politician.
He encouraged me to read newspapers since I was as young as seven and when other girls my age were watching cartoon channels, I was watching news channels along with him even though I could not fathom what was being said.
As far back as I can remember, my father was a staunch Barisan Nasional (BN) supporter. He worshipped the ground that former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad walked on and instilled the same love for the man in me.
I remember one particular general election many years ago when he walked into the polling centre wearing a t-shirt and a cap emblazoned with the BN logo, immediately creating a chaos there.
He could not understand why one should not be allowed to ‘express’ their inclination towards a certain party.
I remember the incident vividly because I cried when my father was taken away by policemen, albeit, for only about 10 minutes, before being released with a stern warning to change his gear.
However, one fine day, when I was all grown up, I was reading a newspaper that my father has browsed through and came across a picture of Tun Mahathir, crossed out.
Shocked, I asked my father, ‘Who did this?’
‘Me’, said my father nonchalantly.
‘But, why? He is your idol. Mine too!’, I said.
‘He is the cause of the woes of Malaysians,” he said.
I was angry at him because he was the one who instilled the love for Tun Mahathir in me and now, he hates him.
The days after that, I would come back from University only to discover more and more BN YBs faces crossed out.
Datuk Seri Samy Vellu, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk G. Palanivel, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi..nobody from the party were spared.
I was speechless to see a staunch supporter of the ruling coalition turning his back towards it. Looking at him, I think most of the people his age experienced the same feelings.
Those times, no one was daring enough to question the acts of the ruling coalition. No one was daring enough to expose any mishappenings of the government.
The mainstream media only paints the good side of the government for the public’s eye, mostly failing to be balanced.
With the emergence of the alternative media, people learned about the government’s bad side. Today, along with the alternative media which has gained great appreciation from people from all walks of life, the social media has spurred up the freedom of expression.
Along with the media, so much have evolved, including people’s minds.
People want change. The desire to change was clearly seen in the 2008 general election when five states (later four) fell to the hands of the opposition.
Many things were brought to light after the 2008 election, a prime example being the cowgate scandal which had people’s blood boiling.
However, knowing that the people want change, the government has implemented a handful of reforms including major government and economic transformation programmes.
Now, it is up to the people to decide whether enough changes were made to give BN another five years to rule the country or the throne should be passed on to another coalition.
Tomorrow, I will be among the 13.2 million voters who will decide the future of the country for the next five years.
Whichever coalition wins the election, come May 6, we will definitely see a changed Malaysia.
He encouraged me to read newspapers since I was as young as seven and when other girls my age were watching cartoon channels, I was watching news channels along with him even though I could not fathom what was being said.
As far back as I can remember, my father was a staunch Barisan Nasional (BN) supporter. He worshipped the ground that former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad walked on and instilled the same love for the man in me.
I remember one particular general election many years ago when he walked into the polling centre wearing a t-shirt and a cap emblazoned with the BN logo, immediately creating a chaos there.
He could not understand why one should not be allowed to ‘express’ their inclination towards a certain party.
I remember the incident vividly because I cried when my father was taken away by policemen, albeit, for only about 10 minutes, before being released with a stern warning to change his gear.
However, one fine day, when I was all grown up, I was reading a newspaper that my father has browsed through and came across a picture of Tun Mahathir, crossed out.
Shocked, I asked my father, ‘Who did this?’
‘Me’, said my father nonchalantly.
‘But, why? He is your idol. Mine too!’, I said.
‘He is the cause of the woes of Malaysians,” he said.
I was angry at him because he was the one who instilled the love for Tun Mahathir in me and now, he hates him.
The days after that, I would come back from University only to discover more and more BN YBs faces crossed out.
Datuk Seri Samy Vellu, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk G. Palanivel, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi..nobody from the party were spared.
I was speechless to see a staunch supporter of the ruling coalition turning his back towards it. Looking at him, I think most of the people his age experienced the same feelings.
Those times, no one was daring enough to question the acts of the ruling coalition. No one was daring enough to expose any mishappenings of the government.
The mainstream media only paints the good side of the government for the public’s eye, mostly failing to be balanced.
With the emergence of the alternative media, people learned about the government’s bad side. Today, along with the alternative media which has gained great appreciation from people from all walks of life, the social media has spurred up the freedom of expression.
Along with the media, so much have evolved, including people’s minds.
People want change. The desire to change was clearly seen in the 2008 general election when five states (later four) fell to the hands of the opposition.
Many things were brought to light after the 2008 election, a prime example being the cowgate scandal which had people’s blood boiling.
However, knowing that the people want change, the government has implemented a handful of reforms including major government and economic transformation programmes.
Now, it is up to the people to decide whether enough changes were made to give BN another five years to rule the country or the throne should be passed on to another coalition.
Tomorrow, I will be among the 13.2 million voters who will decide the future of the country for the next five years.
Whichever coalition wins the election, come May 6, we will definitely see a changed Malaysia.
