Proxy Voting? Why not implement automatic voter registration?

Election Commission recently announced that they are considering the implementation of proxy voting here in Malaysia.

Now as much as I've always been skeptical about the EC, this is actually a pretty good idea mooted by them.

What is a proxy vote actually? Proxy voting means that in the event one person cannot cast their ballot on the Election Day, that person may apply to appoint another person to cast his ballot for him.

the benefits? it simply provides alternative to voters to cast their votes. in fact it is pretty noble of the EC to put the interest of the voters first.

however, before we take an extra step to help the current voters to better cast their votes, why not help the non-registered voters first? before we reinforce the current values of having a better voting process, why dont we fight and lobby for the right to be a voter without being registered?

In Switzerland citizens who attained the age of 18, is automatically registered as a voter. This is good, as firstly, it throws away the hassle of getting yourself registered and secondly, it saves administrative costs and time in processing the registration.

Here in Malaysia, it is not easy to register as a voter. To do so you will need to either go to any Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) state offices (only 1 office in every state), or look for a post office, or ultimately look for a Assistant Registrar who is appointed by the SPR (on the recommendations of every political parties and a number of NGOs)

From my experiences, most people will avoid Post offices. Simply because its too time consuming to get a number and wait for your turn to get yourself registered. Half of them wont even consider SPR offices as its simply too inconvenient. and so many are dependable on Assistant Registrars who normally open registration booths in shopping malls, pasar malam or any other crowded public places.

and even if you do get yourself registered, you will need to wait for at least 5-6 months before you're registered into the system. and there are no other ways to check the status of the registration other than waiting impatiently for 6 months. and after 6 months, these voters have to re-register themselves if they cant find their names here.

Hence, the current options provided to voters are simply too insufficient. and implementing automatic voters registration will eradicate these problems. so before the EC suggests any new ideas to expand the current system, i think its better for them to consider improving it first.

xxxxx

on another note, Khairy is a bankrupt politician for trying to steal the limelight when Anwar challenged PM Najib for a debate. Khairy claimed that Anwar is not at Najibs "level", and that it will be good enough for Anwar to debate him instead.





pic taken from MsianInsider


Just to clarify certain things, it is Khairy himself who is not at Anwar's level. By convention, the opposite of the Prime Minister will be the Opposition leader in Parliament. Hence it is justified for Anwar to issue the challenge to Najib, instead of issuing to other people such as the UMNO Youth Chief. and why would Anwar want to debate with an outgoing Member of Parliament anyway?

funniest thing is, after PKR Youth agreed to send Rafizi Ramli to debate with Khairy instead, Khairy kept a complete silence on this issue.

so who's the coward?

Ratings on My Career Achivements

I have a habit of reviewing my performances before the new year. and well again its almost end of the year!

Last year despite the fact that I obtained my Law degree, i only rate my achievement at around 6 out of 10. Education achievement is something that everyone has, so no big deal.

This year? judging by the fact that it took me longer to get my Certificate in Legal Practise, (which i dearly hope that the results will be out next week) i would probably again only give it a 5 out of 10.

 Pic with Tony Pua, an extremely hunble politician. Prefers people to address him by his name rather than "Sir" or "YB"

meet friendly Faisal Mustaffa.

I still have one research work due for Nie Cheing, and another article due for Tony. lets hope i can finish the research before New year so that i can start my 2011 afresh! Will commence my chambering next month at Messrs Shook Lin & Bok so i'm gonna focus all my time into my new career!

here's some entertainment for you ;) an appetite spoiler! watch our "First Lady" 's love song for PM before its taken down!

If Tomorrow Never Comes

In a nutshell...

Funny joke by Art Harun!

A son asks his father, "What can you tell me about politics? I have to learn about it for school tomorrow." The father thought some and said, "OK, son, the best way I can describe politics is to use an analogy. Let's say that I'm a capitalist because I'm the breadwinner.

Your mother will be the government because she controls everything, our maid will be the working class because she works for us, you will be the people because you answer to us, and your baby brother will be the future. Does that help any?" The little boy said, "Well, Dad, I don't know, but I'll think about what you said."

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, the little boy was awaken by his baby brother's crying. Upon further investigation, he found a dirty diaper. So, he went down the hall to his parent's bedroom and found his father's side of the bed empty and his mother wouldn't wake up. Then he saw a light on in the guest room down the hall, and when he reached the door, he saw through the crack that his father was in bed with the maid. The son then turned and went back to bed.

The next morning, he said to his father at the breakfast table, "Dad, I think I understand politics much better now." "Excellent, my boy," he answered, "What have you learned?"

The little boy thought for a minute and said, "I learned that capitalism is screwing the working class, government is sound asleep ignoring the people, and the future's full of crap."

Irrelevant news made relevant

Now now i really do not understand the big hu-ha on the recent "astronaut" who got married

instead of highlighting more important matters or concerns such as this, the news of our first astronaut getting married became national headlines!

what is his contribution to our nation anyway? other than becoming the first Malaysian "space tourist" proudly sponsored by the Malaysian Government? in fact, we should not forget that it was an incentive included by the Russian Government back in 2003, in their effort to lobby and persuade us to buy 18 Su-30MKM fighters. (Which we did. For a whopping US$900 million) 

if i remember correctly, this part time model was also sent to space for some research in which he was assigned to do. where is the result anyway? 

i dont doubt his efforts or bravery to go through so much just to get selected as the first Malaysian astronaut, but certainly highlighting his marriage has no contribution or whatsoever to our nation.

if the media are so keen to give him so much coverage, they should also perhaps publicise the recent marriage of YB Er Teck Hwa, who burst into tears thanking his parents during his marriage! i think that this news is equally as good as the space tourist one, and should be highlighted as well. at least it showed that he's a filial politician, which will aid his constituent in evaluating him

By the way, i got curious and did some checks and found out that India and Vietnam purchased the same fighter jets as well. India bought 40 same fighter jets with $1.6 Billion in 2007, while Vietnam purchased four jets with $100 million in 2003.

Now, if we do some simple calculations, dividing the total purchase amount with the total number of jets, India bought one jet for $40 000 000 while Vietnam 25 000 000/jet. However for us, Malaysia we bought one jet for &50 000 000! and thats an additional $ 10 000 000 compared to India!

so really, this is one of the reason why i disregard any news that comes out of this space tourist. Coz sponsoring his trip to space just costs too much of our taxpayers monies!

How to scare away investors – the Perkasa Way

I like this article.

"Finally, it is the height of political stupidity to call for a Chinese Perkasa to meet the irrational and racist challenge of the Malay Perkasa. Whoever made that demand or issued a statement to that effect clearly needs to go back to study Political Ethics 101 which is that you do not fight darkness with equal darkness but with light and reason."

Top notch answer from Americk Sidhu

read the reply here

"Let me tell you what an honourable man would have done. An honourable man would have vacated his seat and requested the electorate in his constituency to decide whether they would still support him even though he had betrayed them.

This you did not do, so in my book you are a dishonourable man. You are now a Member of Parliament under false pretences. You shouldn’t really be there because a Member of Parliament should be someone with integrity and honour, besides being legitimately elected by a majority of voters in that constituency.

As a dishonourable member of Parliament under false pretences who has betrayed the electorate he represents, I do not feel you are in a position moral or otherwise, to sanctimoniously criticize the actions of your past fellow ‘brothers-in-arms’ at the same time hiding behind the unholy alliance you have created for yourself with, what most right thinking members of Malaysian society consider to be, the devil incarnate."

Bulls-eye, and he hit it with such fluency with his words

MACC a tied cow

Megat Najmuddin recently made a statement stating that the MACC was right not to go London.

and the reason?

"It is ridiculous to go over there. The process will involve a lot of cost and a waste of taxpayers' money"

Such ridiculous statement.

I would daresay that if there is any allegation at all by anyone on the Prime Minister (or any close associates to him), Malaysians would gladly support the use of public funds to investigate this matter.

In fact as an "independant" statutory body which was modeled after top corruption agencies such as the ICAC, and well scrutinized by 5 other independent bodies for the benefit of the public (namely the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board, the Special Committee on Corruption, the Complaints Committee, the Operations Review Panel, and the Corruption Consultation and Prevention Panel), shouldn't MACC kick its gear immediately and investigate a huge allegation that links our beloved Prime Minister and the First Lady to an extremely dramatic conspiracy?

YAB Datuk Seri Najib is the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and if there is an allegation against him which smears his name, the public would demand that his name be cleared first and that this case be placed as a top priority of the MACC.

Politicians, especially those who hold public office should be clean from top to bottom. It is the role of an anti corruption agency to not hold back in carrying out its duties. Simply falling back on lame excuses such as these will only (again) confirm the public's opinion that MACC simply only serve the interest of one master.