Excitement is evident among first-time voters in Johor polls

JOHOR BAHRU: Excitement is evident on the faces of first-time voters aged 18 to 20 who get the opportunity to vote for the first time in the Johor state election today.

Realising their civic duty to vote, many of these young voters went out early to the designated polling centre to ensure that they too contributed to the formation of the new state government.

Mohamad Rizza Mohd Jamil, 20, a Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTEM) student said he returned to Johor today as he wanted to fulfil his civic duty, in the hope that the elected representatives can help young people to get jobs, especially upon graduation.

"I hope more employment opportunities can be created for the young so that they can contribute to the country after completing their studies," he said after casting his vote at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Taman Tun Aminah Dua, Skudai.

For 20-year-old Aleesya Nornekma, the daughter of Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) candidate for Kempas seat Nornekman Osman, who joined her father and other family members in casting their ballots at SK Larkin (1), voting in a state election was indeed a new and invaluable experience for her.

"I'm so excited to exercise my civic duty to elect my representative in the government. Since I was small, I always wanted to vote in an election," said the granddaughter of the former Menteri Besar of Johor, the late Datuk Osman Sapian.

Meanwhile, S. Daarshini, 19, described the state polls and the implementation of Undi18, as the best opportunity for her to play her role to elect the best representatives for the state.

"I have followed the state's political development ever since the dissolution of the state assembly and the snap polls was announced...I was quite nervous of course, but I'm proud I did my part to vote," she said when met at SK Taman Rinting 1, Pasir Gudang.

Nur Farisha Wahidah Mostafa Zakaria, 19, who also voted at the school, said it was the best opportunity for the young voters to choose the leaders for their future and she hoped that they would make the best decision on that area.

Lim Chia King, 19, on the other hand, said he was too excited and nervous at the same time to exercise his civic duty today.

"This is my first time. I was scared that I would spoil the ballot...but it turned out to be so simple," he said.

Adam Najmi Mat Noh, 20, also shared the same feeling, saying he was surprised and also proud to see so many young people queuing up to exercise their civic duty.

"I was clueless about the process, but the election workers were very helpful," said the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia students who followed the election campaign through Facebook.

A total of 173,177 young first-time voters aged 18 to 20 are eligible to vote in the state polls.

-- BERNAMA