I’ll probably get even more flak for writing this but I have to get this off my chest.
This month is really a bad time for people who are not voting. Day in, day out, they’re being bombarded with questions from friends, family and acquaintances on whether they’re voting or not, whether they have registered to vote, which party they’re crossing for and many other politically related questions.
Being a person who has not registered or intend to vote this year, I feel that these questions are starting to become a little offensive. Just because you have filled out some forms at the post office and “exercised your democratic right”, doesn’t make you fit enough to chastise and insult those who have chosen not to do so. Do you even know these people? Do you even understand what goes through the minds of these people who have chosen not to vote? So stop making assumptions and leave them in peace. Leave me in peace for goodness sake.
I can’t help but feel that lately, the left wing has sort of become the trendiest club in town. Everyone wants to be a left winger. People who can’t even tell who is the current Prime Minister is a friggin left winger. Left wingers will keep the government in check…yay, we’re better than everyone else. Well, piss off.
Someone told me that I shouldn’t complain about the government if I don’t intend to vote. Hey, I absolutely agree with that but you know where does that put me at? It seems that I can’t complain about anything at all, because EVERYTHING bad is caused by the government. Wah roti canai so expensive…..it’s the government! Tiu my client pay so late….it’s the government! Urgh, my period so pain this month….it’s the government! So first they insist that I have to exercise my democratic right, then they take away my right to complain whatever the hell I want? That’s armchair left wingers for you.
I understand that some of you may be very passionate about the political situation in this country and would like nothing better than to convince someone to vote and make a change bla bla bla. I understand that because I also understand that politics determine almost every aspect of our social and economic growth. But I also understand that there are some of us, the cynics, the paranoids, the self-preservationists, the ignorant, the fence-sitters, the i-dont-give-a-flying-f*-am-leaving-this-gawdamn-countrys, heck even the lazyasses don’t sit very well with the idea of voting.
Seriously, stop it already. Enough of the “one vote also makes a difference” story, the check and balance story, the conspiracy theories and all those other yap yappity yap that I’ve heard for the hundredth million times. I’m not stupid and so stop implying I am before you even care to listen to MY story.
The thing is, I don’t even feel like telling you. Why would I jam my opinions and beliefs down your throat when I expect the same from you? So yeah, give me and other like-minded people a break.
In my opinion, it’s already suffice to ask “What do you think of the coming elections?”.
If you’re faced with the “I don’t like to talk about it…lets talk about other stuff”, don’t be a stupid shit and asked why. Just stop the nonsense, give someone his or her privacy and talk about something else.
On the other hand, if that someone responded with an enthusiastic analysis of the voting system, well good on you!