Race against time to ferry votes pays off
PETALING JAYA: Overseas Malaysians are elated that their voluntary efforts to bring postal votes back home in time for the GE14 contributed to such a historic election.
Philip Chua Chee Winn, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, who had started an initiative on Facebook to collect postal votes from Malaysians there, said all that hassle was worth it.
The effort was soon joined by five others, and the team began collecting the votes at the state library in Melbourne last Sunday.
“The team brought home over 200 votes for about 34 constituencies. It was done in two batches, with the last round a day before polling, on Tuesday,” said the IT programme manager, 35, from Subang Jaya.
Chua, who remained in Melbourne as the main contact point, expressed gratitude to the people who chipped in along the way.
“I attribute this victory to all Malaysians, and the ordinary Malaysians who stepped up such as by donating money to enable people to fly back or sending them to the airport.
“Some people, I don’t know personally, and that is encouraging in itself,” he said, adding that it still feels surreal but it was an exciting time for Malaysia.
“A lot of the postal voters and helpers are just in their early 20s.
“It is a time shift from what politics used to be. Previously seen as dirty, youth are changing history for something better,” he said.
Some postal voters were also Malaysians who have been living in Australia for over 20 years but still have their hearts in Malaysia.
“The Election Commission must now revamp its methods. It should have mobilised the consulates to aid the transportation of votes,” he suggested.
His team-mate, Yap Lee Jane, 23, said their effort saved many people from having to buy flight tickets.
“I feel honoured for this opportunity to contribute to change after 61 years,” she said, adding that Malaysians also donated funds, which covered her flight back to Malaysia costing A$500 (RM1,490).
Yap, an internship placements consultant, urged millennials in Malaysia to break out of their apathy and register as voters.
In the United States, business process improvement manager Dorene Seah Hui Li, from Muar, Johor, said there were runners collecting votes from places like San Francisco, Seattle and New York.
“All the effort was worth it and more,” she said, adding that what transpired has been a great first
step to other possibilities.
Among others, Seah wants to see a time in Malaysia where folk would no longer need to go overseas for better education.
Businessman Lee Wai Hong, 38, who helped to coordinate about 300 postal votes which arrived here from overseas, said he felt proud.
“A lot of tears were shed as I saw each ballot going into the ballot box,” he said.