I voted in Malaysia's 12th General Election

I know I promised no more politically inspired posts and no, I'm not breaking my promises ala politician. This is just a record of the First Time I ever voted. (Warning: Cheong hei post ahead.)

I didn't get up at the crack of dawn to go vote, unlike some other voting accounts that I read. Instead, I had a leisurely time getting ready before the family headed out to vote together in the mid-morning. Lucky for us that our polling station is the same, so that eliminates the need to run about (unlike past elections before the parentals changed their registered address) and the school we had to vote at was a mere 8 minutes drive away.

The first thing that caught my eye was the tents set up by Barisan Nasional workers, who were out in full force. They were gaily decked out in matching t-shirts, vests, caps and waving small flags with the "dacing" logo. Two of them were standing on the road acting as traffic marshals - I got a nice parking space pretty near to the school entrance. I didn't stop to check my voting details since I'd already done it online previously so I went straight into the school. (Somehow I was mentally comparing my old school with this one, and this one was so much cleaner, brighter and nicer!)

First, to check with the polling staff to see which lane I'd be assigned to... they're still rather low tech, going thru paper records and ticking off your name against your NRIC. Then they give you a slip of paper with a number on it that tells you which voting room you should go.

I got placed into category number seven, which I assume is for voters in their twenties? Apparently the voters were separated into age groups. I wonder why... if you say it's for the ease of the elderly, you could just specially set aside one classroom for them what. No need to segregate us according to age. Makes me feel somewhat "controlled", like Big Brother's watching my vote, even though they won't know which vote's mine. But what on earth is that funny number scribbled on my paper number seven?

Anyway, I joined the queue and took this shot of others lining up to vote at another classroom while waiting for my turn. (The woman in front of me did give me funny looks cos she could hear me taking a few snapshots with my phone.) I was quite surprised that the queue moved quickly, the people didn't seem to mind waiting and we were all very orderly and civil about it. In fact, there was a sense of solidarity in the air, like everyone knew that they had a duty to do and were happy to do so.

When it was my turn, the lady read out my name and NRIC number (why in Mandarin har?) then they directed me to that cardboard station to pencil in my "X" at the correct place. I have to say that without the party symbol, I could easily forget who was who and which candidate was running for which party! Marked a nice big fat X for the candidates I wanted to vote for (didn't want to run the risk of having it labeled a spoilt vote) and dropped my ballot slips into the clear ballot boxes.

There, that was it. I was done voting. I think for this round of elections, a lot of people are feeling the "fever" because traffic on the roads were slightly heavier than normal, but the shopping complexes were deserted (I should know, I was in a shopping complex after doing my duty! Hurhurhur). Even when driving back home after dinner, the roads were so clear like it was much later in the night, and the local mamak restaurant I had my dinner at was filled with MIC people (from the candidate's office nearby) having dinner and watching the first few results roll in.

Back home, I watched the television for the election results far more eagerly than the latest episode of American Idol or the Oscars and I have to say it is very, very exciting times we live in. I'm still awake watching the results and surfing the Net for latest news! (I am so gonna be a panda bear tomorrow.)

Me likey this bit of news : a blogger is gonna sit in Parliament! Woohoo! Way to go, Jeff Ooi! Show 'em what blogging's about, will ya?

Finally, I know I said no political stuff, but hey, I just feel a need to add in a birthday shout out to Datuk Seri Samy Vellu. Just take it as early retirement present loh. Hehehe.