malaysiakini: Disturbing questions surrounding GE13 polling... by Bridget Welsh

Disturbing questions surrounding GE13 polling

malaysiakini:

Bridget Welsh 12:05PM May 7, 2013

GE13 SPECIAL The GE13 results are in and the BN has managed to hold on to power, winning by a 22-seat majority. This result is the worst performance for BN in Malaysia's history.

For the first time, the incumbent government has lost the popular vote nationally (in 2008, it was only in the peninsula). The BN coalition has still managed to hold on to power. This piece, in a series analysing the election results, looks at the concerns raised regarding the electoral process and the potential impact these issues may have had on the final results.

In analysing the fairness of any polls, one asks whether the irregularities in the process could have affected the final outcome. Were the problems enough to change which coalition would have formed government? These issues will be debated and assessed in the days and weeks ahead. Let me share some preliminary observations that suggest that in this election, some things appear not to be quite right.

Integrity of electoral roll

This was the longest wait for an election, and both sides were extremely active in registering new voters, especially in the urban areas where the party machinery was well honed.

Even factoring in the more robust voter registration efforts, changes in electoral procedures to register people where they live rather than where they are from, population demographics, and possible housing developments in different seats, the increased numbers in the electoral roll are significantly not in line with historical patterns of voter registration. This out-of-line pattern is in every state, except Negri Sembilan.

The figure that stands out in voter increase occurred from 2004 to 2008 in Sabah. The questions about the electoral roll in Sabah have been long standing, and are the subject of the ongoing royal commission of inquiry into immigrants.

These increases from 2004 through 2008 are by any measure - huge - in places such as Liburan, where caretaker Chief Minister Musa Aman's state seat is located, in Semporna, the seat of Shafie Apdal and in Ranau currently held by Ewok Ebin.

Yet, after 2008, while the numbers have dropped, there is still on average 21% new voters in Sabah seats, a high number not in line with demographic trends. Migration appears to continue be a factor shaping voter numbers in Sabah in this GE13, despite calls to tighten the flows.

We also find that new voters have flooded states like Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu and Johor in GE13. The average increase in voters nationally between 2004 and 2008 was 8.2%. In the run-up to GE13, the voters registered doubled to 19.4%. The national and statewide averages however obscure the differences among different seats within states. It is clear that some seats have been special recipients of new voters.

Much has been made of the 28% of new voters in Lembah Pantai. This seat is actually on the low side compared to others. Consider the whopping 61.5% increase in Tapah, recently re-won by BN, or Subang with 52% new voters, won by Pakatan with a larger majority this election but shaped heavily by Pakatan's registration of new voters.

A total of 90 seats, or 41% of all parliamentary seats, have more than 25% new voters. Many of these were in races with tight contests in 2008, and continued to have tight contests in GE13. The new voters have advantaged the opposition in urban areas, but benefitted the BN in rural and semi-rural areas or in states where the machinery of the opposition is comparatively weak, such as Johor.

Such races also won by BN that had large number of voters include Cameron Highlands (20%), Pasir Gudang (39%) and Tebrau (45%) in Johor. While some of the increase in the latter two seats might be explained in part by development, bizarrely there are sharp increases in voting populations in the remote interior state of Pensiangan (33%) and remote coastal seat of Kota Marudu (32%) in Sabah. These abnormal high increases raise questions.

The placement of new voters is even more intriguing when studying the actual polling stations results. Many new voters are concentrated in more less populated areas within constituencies, often in rural and semi-rural seats.

This is where the questions over the large number of unexplained voters grouped in bunches in places like Bachok (21% new voters and won by PAS with less than 1% margin) and Bukit Gantang (29% of new voters and won by PAS with 2% margin) come in.

It appears that the localised remote placements of new voters may have had an impact. For example, the placement of 3,600 new voters in a remote Felda scheme occurred in Segamat, which was won by the BN with a 1,217 majority. The voting in this Felda scheme was over 90%, with one stream at 99%. In 2004, the voter turnout in this area was much lower.
This spike pattern of voter turnout in particular polling stations was found in Terengganu in 2004, when the BN wrested back the state, and questions were raised at that time as well.
Spike patterns out of line
This GE13 spike in voter turnout at the local level is being witnessed in specific places across the country. With the national level of turnout at 85%, the spike patterns that are well out of line with historic patterns of voting behaviour raise questions, even accounting for the overall rise in participation and voter turnout.

Another pattern in the placement of new voters beyond tight races involves prominent leaders getting large shares of new voters, such as Najib Razak's own seat Pekan with 38% new voters, or Rompin represented by Jamaluddin Jarjis at 29% new voters. It remains unclear why these largely rural constituencies would have such large voter increases.
Generally out-migration areas such as Perak and Pahang receiving large numbers of new voters does not conform with population patterns. Why are places with people leaving to work outside get sharp increases in voters?
The lack of clear transparent explanations on why voters are registered in some areas in such high numbers this election, compared to past patterns in these areas, understandably raises questions.

Many seats that were lost by the opposition or were in tight races have large number of new voters, including, including Tanah Merah (24%) and Balik Pulau (25%), although in some cases the opposition picked up or retained seats with large voter increases in these seats, such as Kota Raja (47%) and Kuala Nerus (25%), among others.

This issue of voter registration and voter turnout levels needs further study, with more information on who are these new voters and their pattern of voting. The fact is that the polling station results will show the spikes at the local level and careful study will tell us statistically the impact of these new voters on electoral outcomes.

The Electoral Commission (EC) and electoral administration as a whole are facing a real trust deficit. A reliable electoral roll is essential for any fair elections. Repeatedly questions have been raised about the veracity of many new voters.

Election watchdog Merap and others have time and again drawn attention to the questions of electoral roll integrity. Before the polls, these matters were essentially ignored or dismissed. To date, the scope of phantom voters and questionable placement is not fully known. Now the results themselves will show the impact at the local level.

This is why the sharing of all results through the Borang 14 is essential in order to make a systematic and thorough assessment. Preliminary reviews of results are already raising red flags as they have shaped the outcomes at both the parliamentary and state levels.

Early and postal voting 
Queries about the early and postal voting have also emerged. Here the question is about double voting, with individuals having the opportunity to vote twice. Postal voting numbers increased in this election. Historically, there have always been questions about the veracity of postal voting, with reports questioning that this voting is secret and others arguing over the accuracy of the results.

There have been improvements in recent years over postal voting involving polling agent access to this process in many locations. Yet, even with these improvements, questions about whether postal voting is fair and accurate remain.

In this election, further questions emerged over the numbers and placement of these postal voters in different constituencies. Many tight races, such as Sibu, had increases in postal voters. In some cases, the list of names of new postal voters were reportedly not provided openly.

Early voting, an estimated 240,000 people, is also a new addition for this election and being queried. Early voting includes many Malaysians within Malaysia, such as the wives of army officers and journalists who can vote before polls.
There was not a clear distribution of the list of early voters provided nationally, and in some cases even individual candidates were not able to access the names of who were the postal and early voters.
No clear explanation was given to why some constituencies received early voters and others did not. Importantly, this information was not properly shared so that it could be verified. Furthermore, there were unexplained instances when the numbers of early and postal voters increased. In Lembai Pantai, for example, the number stated was 200, but 600 showed up. How did this happen?

Given the reality that the indelible ink was in many cases not indelible, the possibility of double voting exists. On voting day there are numerous reports of individuals finding out that someone had voted fraudulently using their name, leading to concerns also about electoral disenfranchisement.

There were also reports of non-Malaysians being transported to the polling stations by buses and even flown in, some of these believed to be phantom voters. The scale and impact of these on the results is not yet clear, but given the combination of a non-transparent early and postal voting process in various locations and non-indelible ink issues on election day, and sightings of non-Malaysians in contentious seats, troubling questions are being raised.

The close results make these issues and questions more salient. A total of 72 of seats (or 32%) were won by less than 10% margins of turnout. Twenty percent of seats, 44 seats, were won with less than a 5% margin. The closeness of these races could easily have come down to a few voters. These razor-thin margin seats were won by both sides, but given the questions raised about the process of voting in these close seats, they need to be carefully reviewed.

To date, the total number of seats affected by either non-transparent new voter increases and early voting allocations and unexplained incidents of disenfranchisement appears to be more than the actual margin of victory for the BN. These reports need to be properly vetted and verified, but fundamental questions remained.

A spoilt-vote victory

Finally, this brings up the questions on the election night itself. There are queries surrounding the recounts and spoilt votes. How many recounts which overturned the results at the last moment were there? In Perak, for example, three state seats - three is a famous number in Perak - Alor Pongsu, Manjoi and Pangkor results were overturned at the last minute. Questions were also raised at Kamunting as well.

The need for transparency at the final count is essential for a fair election. When the EC asks people to leave and there are new ballot boxes seen outside of a polling station, as was reported in Lembah Pantai, there are questions. It is not fully clear what exactly happened with the recounts in Perak and elsewhere - as there were numerous recounts nationally this election - but the climate of distrust that has permeated the assessment of the election process raises doubts.

In the days ahead, a better sense of the numbers and recounts will emerge. With reports of sudden changes in the voting results such as Bentong and Labis, questions are being raised. Many people cannot understand how a result that was statistically a large margin ahead could be overturned. These need to be clarified, particularly in Bentong where the margin was larger.

Part of the problem is that in some cases, the number of spoilt votes exceeded the actual majority in places where recounts took place. Here are some of the seats at the parliamentary level where this happened: Kuala Selangor, Cameron Highlands, Bachok, Bentong, Sungai Besar, Kota Merudu and Baram won by the BN and Sepang and Kuala Nerus won by the opposition. Another seat with high spoilt votes is Segamat, at 950.

What distinguishes these close recounts from the famous cases of Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh losing in 1999 with more spoilt votes than the majority, is the process of the administration of the indelible ink in this election - before marking the ballot paper - thus staining the papers and contributing to higher spoilt votes.

This pattern of higher spoilt votes than actual margins of victory was also replicated at the state level as well in many areas, where only a few seats mattered for who should win state power. The process of administering the ink appears to have had an impact on the results in some areas.

It is important to be careful when reviewing the election results and not rush to judgement about what happened and why. It is also important to see the election holistically. The focus here has not touched on the use of money in the campaign, which was rampant, labelled ‘bombing' in Sabah, or the mainstream media reporting.

The aim has been to raise the preliminary questions revealed in the results and the impact actual numbers of voters associated with the election. As the evaluation of the election moves forward, the call to answer these questions will only increase and intensify. Further study and analysis is essential.

Nevertheless, from the non-indelible ink and spikes in voter turnout to being not allowed to vote, concerns with the electoral process itself are not sitting right with many in the public, and this is not just supporters on one side or another. Transparent and truthful answers are both needed and welcomed.

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DR BRIDGET WELSH is associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University. She is travelling around Malaysia to provide her GE13 analyses exclusively to Malaysiakini. Bridget can be reached at bwelsh@smu.edu.sg. 

New Mandala: Malaysia’s election: An Indonesian comparison... BY EDWARD ASPINALL

Malaysia’s election: An Indonesian comparison

BY

EDWARD ASPINALL, GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

 – 6 MAY 2013POSTED IN: INDONESIA, MALAYSIA

For the two weeks of Malaysia’s election campaign, I was one of a group of researchers from the University of Malaya and various overseas institutions that toured through every one of Malaysia’s 13 states, witnessing the night time election rallies (ceramah), speaking to campaign workers and candidates, and generally trying to take the political pulse of this highly varied country. It was an exhausting trip, but also a great introduction to Malaysia for someone like me who has spent many years researching Indonesian politics. Indonesia and Malaysia are neighbouring countries, sharing a similar national language and (in part) a Malay heritage, but their politics are very different. Here are a couple of simple comparisons, drawn from the experience of this research trip.

1. Malaysian elections are less free.

Anyone who doubts the depth of Indonesian democracy should pay a visit to a Malaysian election campaign and compare the climate to what one finds in an Indonesian poll. Obviously, Malaysia is not a police state: we don’t feel the sense of constant surveillance that was a feature of Indonesia during the Suharto period, nor is there a particularly obvious security force presence. But in at least two ways, the authoritarian features of Malaysia’s politics are obvious.

First, and most blatant, is control of the media. For someone used to the cacophonous and sometimes highly irreverent print and electronic media of Indonesia, it was a shock to daily read the monotonous and biased fare dished up by Malaysian newspapers. Through the campaign period, both English and Malay language newspapers churned out a torrent of laudatory reports on the government and highly critical – sometimes laughably hysterical – reports on the opposition. Readers were repeatedly warned that the opposition coalition was a shambles, that it was irredeemably divided internally and that chaos would ensue if it won. No surprise there for anyone who knows a minimum about Malaysian politics, but I have to admit I was taken aback by the brazenness of the partisanship. Even in the late Suharto years, the Indonesian press was never this bad.

However, as almost everyone – from both government and opposition – told us, such media control is becoming less effective as a growing proportion of the population, especially young people,  turn to social media and online news sources for information. Even in remote rural electorates in Sabah, candidates employed cyber-troopers – young people whose job it was to promote their candidate and cast aspersions on the opposition. But while social media is extending its reach, it still affects mostly a younger, educated and more urban population: a fact borne out in the sharp urban-rural divide in the results.

Second, there is a fusion of state and party that has no equivalent in contemporary Indonesia. To be sure, we know from many reports of pilkada(local executive government heads) that incumbent local government leaders in regional Indonesia make use of the government apparatus to try to get re-elected – for example, by leaning on village heads to mobilize their communities or by directing their staff to channel development projects to political sympathisers. But such leaders do this in ways that are surreptitious, because they know that public servants are prohibited from engaging in politics. This prohibition was a major plank of the “de-Golkar-isation” that occurred as part of Indonesia’s post-Suharto reforms. In Malaysia, the boundary between the government apparatus and the ruling BN coalition is sometimes so thin as to be invisible, and everyone knows it.

This is obvious most of all in the various cash transfer schemes and other populist schemes that the government ran as a major part of its re-election bid. Throughout the country, BN campaigners agree that policies such as the BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia – One Malaysia People’s Aid) program, in which households earning less than 3000 ringgit per month were made payments of 500 ringgit, were a critical part of its re-election program. But it was also clear that party and state were all but indistinguishable in the delivery of these payments: we collected many reports of people being required to register for BR1M payments at UMNO or BN offices, or of local BN leaders being appointed as coordinators of the BR1M program. Throughout the election period the country’s roadside and media was drenched in advertising promoting the “1 Malaysia” assistance programs, of which BR1M was only one small part.

Similar partisanship in government largesse is visible in the Constitutency Development Fund program, in which federal parliamentarians are allocated 1 million ringgit each to spend on development programs in their electorates. But such funds are made available only to BN MPs, not those from the opposition. As one former BN MP explained, this targeting is to stop opposition MPs “taking credit” for government development spending.

This sort fusion of state and party in development programming was a hallmark of the Suharto period in Indonesia, when Golkar was basically the electoral expression of the government  bureaucracy. Today, there is still plenty of manipulation of government programs for partisan political advantage in Indonesia, but when it happens it has to take place much more covertly. In Malaysia, the state and ruling party are all but fused.

2. But elections matter more, and so do parties.

Yet for all this, it is hard to avoid the strong impression that elections are much more meaningful, consequential and competitive political events in Malaysia than in Indonesia. Or at least, that’s how people view them. Of course, elections are the central institution of Indonesia’s new democratic politics, and nobody could deny they are important. But at least since the first post-Suharto polls of 1999, there is never much of a sense that the whole fate of the nation hangs in the balance as the result of a particular poll, as was definitely the case in these 2013 Malaysian elections. Sometimes, supporters of a particular candidate will get very fired up in Indonesia, but rarely are whole communities galvanised.

In Malaysia, nobody attending election events could doubt that this was an election that really mattered: party leaders and campaigners, the press, and ordinary citizens repeatedly stated that the future of the country was at stake. Passions were particularly high, of course, because of the opposition gains in 2008, and because an opposition victory seemed a real possibility. Another important factor is that the country’s parliamentary form of government acts to strengthen party identity: it is the parliamentary elections that have the power to create and destroy governments (unlike in Indonesia where the president is directly elected and coalitions within parliament tend to be issue-based and ever-changing rather than permanent and institutionalised).

Accordingly, parties are more distinctive from one another than they are in Indonesia. They appeal to different ethnic and other social constituencies, and they are also much more programatic. In Indonesia, individual candidates might use local languages and cultural symbols to spice up their campaigning, but there is no party that targets a particular ethnic community and campaigns primarily in that community’s language as in Malaysia. To be sure, the opposition Pakatan Rakyat has made great strides in coalition-building, but  witnessing DAP and other party ceramah using the various Chinese dialects drives home just how segmented Malaysia’s electorate is. So does watching the mix of party flags hung along the roadsides altering dramatically as we moved between states.

It was also striking how policy-focused the elections were. In Indonesian elections, campaigners often say it is “figur” — the individual candidate’s personality or charisma — that counts. Most of the election events I witnessed in Malaysia were relentlessly policy-focused. To be sure, campaigners spent a lot of time mocking their opponents’ personal records or characters, but they also dwelled on the government’s achievements or failings, and on their future policy promises. PR campaigners we followed as they went house to house through poor kampung in Sarawak, for example, emphasised policies such as free education and a new pension scheme.

BN used a slick and obviously highly centralised advertising campaign that placed Prime Minister Najib at the centre and used various soft-focus, feel good messages of the sort that will be familiar to most people who have lived through a recent election campaign in a developed democracy. But the content of BN campaigns was also focused on attacking the opposition, and on promoting the government’s development achievements (janji ditepati – promises delivered – was the major catch-cry of the national advertising campaign) and the BR1M and various other benefit schemes.

Overall, however, especially once the results began to trickle in on Sunday night, I couldn’t help being left with a sense of irony. In Indonesia, elections are more free and therefore much more amenable to being used to bring about real change of government. In Malaysia, the cards are so stacked against the opposition that it now seems hard to imagine a change in national government taking place through an election. The rural gerrymander alone is enough to keep BN in power with a much smaller fraction of the popular vote than it won this weekend. And yet, it’s in Malaysia that we find still find an excitement about electioneering that Indonesia’s experience of democratic government has dulled. But how long will elections seem truly consequential for Malaysians if the national government can never be changed by them?

Edward Aspinall is a Professor of Southeast Asian Politics in the Department of Political and Social Change at the ANU. He wishes to thank Terence Gomez, Surinderpal Kaur and Meredith Weiss for their company, guidance and insight during his recent trip through Malaysia.

Ke Arah Malaysia Terunggul / Aspiring To A Better Malaysia..... by Abdul Khalid Ibrahim

http://j.mp/ABetterMalaysia

Ke Arah Malaysia Terunggul / 

Aspiring To A Better Malaysia
by Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (Notes) on Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 10:01am


(English version below)

KE ARAH MALAYSIA TERUNGGUL

Rakyat Malaysia seharusnya menikmati yang terbaik untuk semua. 

Pemimpin kita seharusnya mencerminkan kewibawaan sebenar rakyat Malaysia, layak mendukung harapan dan aspirasi kita, dan mampu merealisasikan potensi sebenar kita. 

Hakikat ini disedari jutaan rakyat Malaysia yang berusaha tanpa mengenal penat lelah demi kehidupan yang lebih baik untuk diri dan keluarga. Masanya telah tiba untuk kita membuang segala ketakutan dan keraguan yang selama ini menjadi penghalang dan mengejar masa depan yang lebih cerah.

Kita tidak perlu lagi dibebankan dengan pemimpin yang hanya tahu 'mengambil', kerana rakyat sepatutnya berhak mendapat pemimpin yang lebih mahir ‘memberi’. 

Kita tidak mahukan habuan dari pemimpin kita; sebaliknya kita hanya perlukan pemimpin yang mampu menguruskan negara dengan bijak dan mewujudkan peluang yang adil untuk semua. 

Yang kita dahagakan adalah kesamarataan di mana kemewahan boleh dicapai oleh sesiapa yang sanggup rajin berusaha dan di mana kejayaan diperolehi hasil daripada usaha kita, bukan hubungan kita dengan mana-mana pihak. 

Kita perlukan pemimpin yang sanggup berkhidmat dengan rendah diri, bukan pemimpin angkuh yang menganggap rakyat wajib syukur atas 'sumbangan yang diberikan'.

Jika khazanah negara digunakan untuk mengisi poket pihak berkepentingan dan bukan dilaburkan untuk masa depan kita bersama, maka sudah tiba masanya untuk harapan baru. 

Rakyat Malaysia berhak mendapat pentadbiran yang telus yang akan membolehkan kita semua melihat dengan jelas bagaimana kekayaan negara diuruskan.

Rakyat Malaysia berhak hidup tanpa pemisahan antara kaum atas sebab-sebab politik. Terlalu lama kita sudah dibebankan dengan pemimpin yang mengapi-apikan sentimen perkauman demi memenuhi kepentingan peribadi.

Rakyat Malaysia berhak mendapat pemimpin yang menyemai dan mengukuhkan semangat muhibah yang sememangnya sedia wujud dalam kalangan rakyat Malaysia. 

Rakyat Malaysia juga berhak merasai demokrasi sebenar – iaitu keupayaan untuk menentukan nasib mereka sendiri secara bebas dan adil.

Kuasa yang dibiarkan berleluasa terlalu lama selalu melahirkan pemimpin sembrono yang bertindak sesuka hati tanpa melaksanakan tanggungjawab kepada rakyat yang sepatutnya.

Kita mesti sentiasa beringat bahawa kita bukan sekadar ingin menukar kerajaan. Kita juga bukan sekadar ingin menggantikan individu atau parti tertentu sahaja. Kita bertekad menggantikan keseluruhan budaya politik feudalisme dan rasuah yang berleluasa. 

Oleh itu kita tidak akan bertolak ansur dengan mana-mana musuh dalam selimut yang mengaku kononnya sekutu kita tetapi masih mengamalkan budaya dan politik yang lama.

Sebarang kegagalan untuk menggantikan budaya lama ini akan bermaksud usaha pembaharuan kita tidak bermakna dan lompong. Harapan perubahan yang dijanjikan kepada rakyat Malaysia bukan calang-calang tanggungjawab malah merupakan amanah besar.

Walau apapun keputusan pada 5 Mei ini, banyak lagi cabaran dan dugaan yang perlu kita hadapi. Walaubagaimanapun, Insya’Allah, ia akan menjadi langkah pertama ke arah membina Malaysia yang unggul seperti yang kita idamkan sejak sekian lama.

Malaysia yang kita impikan ini memang sudah berada dalam genggaman kita. Kita hanya perlu bangunkan semangat yang sedia ada dalam diri kita, dan mara seiringan dengan penuh keberanian untuk merealisasikan Malaysia yang terunggul. 

Abdul Khalid Ibrahim

*

ASPIRING TO A BETTER MALAYSIA

Malaysia deserves better.

Malaysia deserves leaders worthy of Malaysians, worthy of your dreams and aspirations, and worthy of your mighty, untapped potential. We have it in us as a nation to be truly great.

The millions of Malaysians who toil tirelessly to create a better life for themselves and their families, have long known the truth of this. The time has come for us to let go of the fears and failures that have held us back, and to embrace in its stead the bright hope of the future.

No more will you need to suffer leaders who take, when Malaysia deserves and needs leaders who will give. We know that you do not look to your leaders to give you handouts, you look to them to manage the nation wisely, and to give us the only thing you truly need: a fair opportunity.

We know that you look for a level playing field where an honest man will see an honest wage, and where your success is defined by your commitment to hard work, not your connections to ‘higher powers’.

You need leaders who serve humbly, not leaders who demand obedience arrogantly; leaders who understand that respect must be earned and who do not require gratitude from the people, only a clear conscience at day’s end.  Leaders without conscience cannot hope to manage our nation and its resources well.

If your funds are finding their way into the pockets of politicians and those connected to them instead of being invested in a better future for all, then it is time to throw open our windows, and let in the bright light and fresh air.  

Malaysians deserve the transparency that will allow everyone to see if our resources are truly being invested into making a better Malaysia.

Just as we need business without bribery, we need community without communal conflict. For too long, you have been burdened with leaders who drive wedges between us to feed greed and blind ambition.

Malaysia deserves leaders who will build on the natural goodwill that exists between all Malaysians. 

Perhaps most of all, Malaysians deserve a meaningful democracy - the ability to determine their own fate in a free and fair manner. Power that is left unchecked for too long will inevitably rot itself in place, and leaders will begin to do as they wish, not as they should.

We must remain eternally vigilant that we do not replace the old with more of the same. You should not seek to replace only individuals or parties, but an entire culture of political feudalism and rampant corruption. Where you find elements of the same in those who call themselves allies, let your commitment to justice burn no less brightly towards any of these wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Failure to do so renders any reform meaningless and hollow, and those who would promise Malaysians a new hope owe them much, much more.

It is a time of unprecedented opportunity for us as a nation.

No result on the 5th of May can blow away the many challenges we face. God willing however, it will be the first of many steps towards building the great, great Malaysia so many of us have dreamt of for so very long.

This Malaysia is within reach, of that there is no doubt. We need only awake the giants of greatness in all of us, step forward boldly together, and become all that we can. 

Abdul Khalid Ibrahim

TMI: A changed Malaysia come May 6 ... by Jahabar Sadiq, Editor TMI

A changed Malaysia come May 6BY JAHABAR SADIQ, EDITOR, TMI MAY 04, 2013

A placard which reads ‘Change. Save Malaysia’ expresses the hope of many people at the Pakatan Rakyat grand rally at the Esplanade in Penang on May 3, 2013. — Picture by K.E. Ooi

COMMENT, May 4 — No matter which coalition makes the government in the early morning of May 6, one thing is certain — Malaysia has changed and it is business unusual for the new administration.

With the respected Merdeka Center for Opinion Research’s latest survey showing a dead heat between both Barisan Nasional (BN) or Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the winner’s first job is to respond to a populace that questions and demands more from its government.

Forget the docile and subservient citizenry that thought government always knew best. That worked for some 55 years but this is a new Malaysia where the people are more advanced and ambitious in thought than their politicians.


A population where pensioners and the bloated civil service are no longer a sure vote bank, where racial barriers have collapsed and people are one as Bangsa Malaysia — concerned more about the economy than the personal lives of politicians.

This single-mindedness and unity comes despite the overt racist tones in the campaign since Nomination Day on April 20 or the fear-mongering being played out by certain political parties.

The results of the latest Merdeka Center poll — 42 per cent of the voters agreeing that PR could govern the country against 41 per cent who felt only BN should rule Malaysia — reflect how far the country has come from elections where politicians just pleaded to be a strong opposition.

“Change happens all the time and in the same way that none of us can ever imagine Malaysia regressing to an age where women are not allowed access to education, we cannot ever imagine going back to a politics that is simplistic, patronising, top-down and unchallenged.

“Even the former opposition parties have learned, over the past five years, what it is really like to be in power and having to be accountable to NGOs and public opinion. It’s been a learning experience for all of us, and I believe we have grown a little wiser too,” well-known academic Dr Farish A. Noor wrote in an essay today.

That wisdom has meant that no government can now simply implement a top-down decision without being questioned by the people or told in no uncertain terms how unpopular some ideas are.

Ideas are being shared and shaped through the Internet, people, young and old, are coming together and ahead of politicians whose mindsets belong to the trunks of their forefathers who travelled in the previous century.

The old must make way for the new, just like party-owned newspapers that will be held accountable for their reportage. The days of being the only source of credible news is over for the likes of the New Straits Times, The Star, Berita Harian or Utusan Malaysia.

There is now a proliferation of news portals and growing rise of video clips that tell a story better and faster than any propagandist can. The new media has become the standard way of creating and consuming news and information, leaving in its wake shrinking audiences for newspapers and state broadcasters that refuse to step into the 21st century.

Why? Because there are more young people now than ever before. More of who want a say in their country Malaysia. More who will come to vote tomorrow as eagerly as those Malaysians abroad last Sunday.

We have changed as Malaysians. We are no longer bystanders and an audience of a national narrative written by politicians. We are the active participants shaping Malaysia’s direction and discourse, looking askance at politicians who think nothing of shifting thousands of voters across the country before the polls.

This is the new Malaysia that will vote tomorrow for a better Malaysia for all who proudly call themselves Malaysians. The Malaysia that keeps its government on its toes for fear of losing its job.

This May 6 the new government will be one that learns more from the people than it can teach the people unlike the past 55 years.

* Jahabar Sadiq runs The Malaysian Insider.

AN OPEN LETTER BY RAFIZI RAMLI

AN OPEN LETTER BY RAFIZI RAMLI

My fellow Malaysians

I was born in a small wooden house surrounded by rubber trees about 36 years ago. My first recollection of life was that of a water well because my house did not have a running water supply until much later.

Like many kampung Malay kids, I grew up not having much of anything. My worldview was shaped by my surrounding. Since some of my elderly cousins became teachers, I wanted to go one step ahead of them – so I started my young life wanting to be a university lecturer (which was the coolest job I could think of when I was eight years old).

Although life was difficult and we were always conscious that we wouldn’t have enough to go around, I grew up with full of pride. My parents raised us not to be apologetic about anything. From a very young age, I learnt that a man’s mortal enemy is his own self pity.

Thus, I grew up in a family environment that was full of energy and positivity. Living a dignified honest life on my own terms becomes an objective that I pursued doggedly from a young age.

We are, after all, the master of our own fate and fortune.

It is this belief that forms the bedrock of my conviction that for Malaysia to progress, we must heal from the self-inflicted wound of mistrust, mediocrity and mismanagement.

After four decades of divisive policies that favour only the well connected elites of the society, the cancerous downside effects on the society’s morale and self-confidence are all too apparent. The very prerequisite that can make this country great again – pride in ourselves – diminishes by the day.

The Umno elites predictably resort to scaremongering and running down the very group they claim to protect i.e. the Malays.

Every day, the Malays are being fed with a concoction of lies that they cannot survive on their own without the government’s protection. The good Malays were systematically replaced by the mediocre Malays in every sphere when the Umno-led BN government ditched meritocracy in exchange for mediocracy – it was no longer skills, qualifications or business acumen that get you a big break, it was which Umno or BN ministers you know.

The unintended consequences of such selfishness and shortsightedness were devastating to nation-building efforts. A culture of mediocrity and mistrust perpetuated by the Umno-led BN government finally allows for mismanagement of the nation’s wealth to go unchecked.

I have always advocated that a change to a needs-based policy (from race-based) is not only morally right to ensure fairness to all, more importantly it is a necessity to instil pride and goodwill in every single Malaysian so that we can move on confidently.

It is not fair to burden the young Malaysians with the baggage of the past.

They have every right to grow up believing that they can achieve their fullest potentials under the Malaysian sun if they are morally upright, honest, industrious and smart. They deserve a society that can feel good about itself, without the bitterness of mistrust and racial connotations. They need to have the confidence that the government will take care of the most vulnerable groups in the society regardless of background and affiliations.

Our young Malaysians deserve to grow up in a positive environment that thrives on the utmost confidence we have in ourselves and our capabilities, only then can we break free from the ghost of the past which inhibited Malaysia’s potential all this while.

We have a lot of work to do if we hope to accomplish this. We need to fix the schools because fixing the schools means we fix the society. We have to ensure that the good ones in the society are given the best opportunity to soar to the sky while we build a net to catch those less fortunate so that no one is left behind.

Malaysians have to look at each other differently. Instead of looking at our differences, we are better off cherishing the common fondness that binds us together – our colourful food does more justice as a testimony to our ability to appreciate each other than we ever dare to give credit to ourselves.

A lot of my friends said that I am a foolish dreamer. They taunt me that there is a fine line between idealism and foolishness. Yet each time detractors belittle my dream of a better Malaysia for all, I am constantly reminded of the beautiful words of a song from the past:

“You are still so young to travel so far, Old enough to know who you are, Wise enough to carry the scar, Without any blame … ”

Malaysia is a young nation. It has gone through a lot and the experience accelerated its maturity. It may have erred in the past, but its future is the brightest on this side of the horizon. Let us look forward to that future and leave the past behind without any blame.

Looking back, I am ever grateful that I was able to cast my inferiority earlier on in my life. I could because I had a good support system and a good education.

The future of our society lies in our classroom and with our young people. I am glad that while I may have pursued a different professional career, the yearning for teaching and knowledge never dies. Deep inside I have always been a student and a teacher that allowed me to go through a journey of humility to see life from different perspectives.

We must ensure that education reforms become an obsession of our next government because every child deserves a chance to cast away his/her inferiority and inhibition earlier on in life, so that they can do wonders later on.
As we go to the polling station this Sunday, I hope my fellow Malaysians hold our heads high and look to a brighter future. The days when we are put down by our own government shall be over. We shall be the master of our nation’s destiny and fortune.

I may be relatively young, foolish and naïve to hope for better things for Malaysia. I don’t pretend to know what my fellow Malaysians want, but I offer my youth, energy and undying love to make it a better home for everyone.

Because we owe it to our young people and ourselves to put Malaysia where she deserves.

Rafizi Ramli, 5 May 2013

malaysiakini: Three days that will shake M'sia... by Azly Rahman

Three days that will shake M'sia

malaysiakini:

Azly Rahman 12:31PM May 3, 2013

I have been engulfed with sadness these days and overwhelmed by it yesterday, as I follow closely the developments leading to our “mother of al elections”. I am referring to the alleged flying in of dubious voters via special/chartered flights that might be the factor in deciding the victory of BN come May 6, 2013. On the status page of myFacebook, I wrote these notes:

1) DEEP SADNESS...

My feelings tonight... thinking of the magnitude of fraud and possible degree of destruction to my beloved nation... three days to the important day and major issues are not resolved yet. We are going to have an election and pretend that the winner will still govern our lives carrying a fraudulent mandate... sadness engulfing me - ar 

2) GE13... a question.

Dilemma...

should we let Nature take its course

and Fate to dictate Free Will?

or should we tie our camel to the olive tree

and pray that it'll not be stolen while we watch

the elections drama of the century? - ar
How do we understand our shattering hope and at the same time address our rage against the machine?

The latest allegation of the flying in of tens of thousands of dubious voters, whilst being made public and the nation now alarmed, could be a factor to shatter the hopes of Malaysian to taste a free and fair election. It is a serious allegation with far-ranging consequences.

A shattering Malaysian hope?
What will another win for BN entail, given its massive control of the media, men, machinery and even the minds of those it has clutched for 55 years in this grand narrative of hypermodernity, oriental despotism, hegemony, and the propping of a façade to disguise a failing state?

How will revenge and retribution look like? How will Malaysians see another period of time and energy wasted to settle scores - time ought to be used for national building and the improvement of the lives, minds, and souls of all Malaysians?

We have unresolved issues which make me wonder if we are actually ready to have an election. Project MyKad or IC in Sabah, the Sulu intrusion, postal voter ballot secrecy, alleged delibility of the indelible ink, and now the mega-issue of all, the “now-every-phantom-voter-can-fly” allegation - all these and what else are making this an election not only plagued with fraud, but one that is shaking the country at its fundamental core.

We are at a beautiful juncture in which we are seeing a genuine and heart-warming display of progressive multiculturalism and religious understanding at the grassroots and the responsive and responsible party-politics levels - something we have not seen much since the days of Mahathirism. 

Yet the threat looming is the might of the machine that is pounding us to render us helpless in the face of a potentially fraudulent outcome of a most decisive election. We are seeing a no-shame display of the abuse power of a caretaker government in all aspects of campaigning.

A larger issue is our rage against the machine - one that is a marriage between the ideology, ideological apparatuses, and the corporate institutions whose interest have been to profit from the rakyat and to continue to patron a dying regime. This is an issue of political-economy.

Seriously, it is a structural and systemic political-economic issue of interlocking directorate-ships, controlling interests and a lack of basic ethics.

Knowing that companies which you support and patron for years are involved in aligning themselves with political parties that work against the interest of the people's just and peaceful demand for good governance.

Knowing that these companies, some huge ones in telecommunications, shipping, infrastructure, entertainment and air transportation, are closely-linked with the political parties that are all out to destroy that nation in a fraudulent election that will destroy the future of our children, what then must one do?

Should these companies be fully-exposed of their link - to educate the people they profit from all these years and a public inquiry be made of the future of their operations?

It is a systemic and structural issue - an ugly aspect of the legacy of ‘Malaysia Inc.’, ‘privatisation’, and also that ‘Look East Policy’. In a country harbouring despotic inter-generational regimes such as Malaysia, for whom do these corporations serve?

What must we do?

How then must they be dismantled? Which pied piper paid for their pathological actions of bulldozing the rights of the people to have a safe and sane election for the sake of the peaceful and ethical evolution of a Malaysian nation - one in which a society is not made of phantom voters, instantly-made-legal illegal immigrants or simply those unfit to be taken in as "Malaysian citizens".

What then must we do to these corporate accomplices to the process of destruction of our beloved nation?

It is time to think of new telecommunications, infrastructural developments, and public transportation providers, etc. after this election. 

It is time to seriously explore ownership and the control of companies based on the ‘cooperative system’ rather than leave everything to the ‘magic of the marketplace’ and the bulls and bears in the marketplace. There are actually no bulls nor bears, but beasts in corporate masks run by over-glorified propped-up billionaires created as ‘models of entrepreneurial excellence’. 

There are only ‘great CEOs’ as inspiration to each race and religion that need a story of ‘rags-to-riches’ of our own myth of Horatio Alger - a narrative that the rakyat can salivate upon while still locked in the master-slave narrative of a Malaysian economy that is now a sinkingbahtera merdeka, the great ship of Malaysian independence.

What then must we do in these remaining "three days that will shake Malaysia"?

---

DR AZLY RAHMAN, who was born in Singapore and grew up in Johor Baru, holds a Columbia University (New York) doctorate in International Education Development and Master's degrees in the fields of Education, International Affairs, Peace Studies and Communication. He has taught more than 40 courses in six different departments and has written more than 300 analyses on Malaysia. His teaching experience spans Malaysia and the United States, over a wide range of subjects from elementary to graduate education. He currently resides in the United States.

Hail the Comrades for Change!... By Kee Thuan Chye

Hail the Comrades for Change!

By Kee Thuan Chye | Bull Bashing – 1 hour 27 minutes ago

By Kee Thuan Chye

The purest and most heartwarming feature of this upcoming general election, predicted to be the dirtiest ever in Malaysian history, is the solidarity of the Malaysians who are calling for ubah(change) and proclaiming, “Ini kalilah!” (This is the time to do it!)

In the course of a year, it has swelled into a movement. Partly from the Bersih rallies that brought people closer together because they went through adverse circumstances together. Partly from the rallies organised by the Opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, that gave hope of a viable alternative to Malaysians disenchanted by 55 years of Barisan Nasional (BN) rule.

No one person or party organised the movement. It evolved naturally and organically, thanks partly to the new media. Everyone in this loose fraternity is drawn to the movement by one single goal – kicking out BN and bringing about ubah – and there is a passionate zeal in their quest. It came from the fact that many of them became politically sensitised after the 2008 general election, which was a wake-up call for Malaysians to take an active part in shaping their country’s destiny.

What they stand for is change for the better, change for a country rid of a corrupt and deceitful government, change for a brighter future for themselves, for their children. And what drives some of them is the anger they feel against BN for the indefensible wrongs it has committed.

Converting this into action, they have thronged the Pakatan ceramahs in the current election campaign, mobilised fence-sitters to attend them, contributed funds to Pakatan parties, helped out directly with Pakatan’s campaigning, volunteered to be polling and counting agents for election day.

In informal ways, they have helped to indirectly campaign for Pakatan by circulating e-mails exposing BN’s excesses and abuse of power, blogging, posting comments on media websites, tweeting and Facebooking.

On Facebook lately, their statement of change has seen expression in many like-minded Netizens adopting the ubah mascot as their profile photos. This gives ready recognition of themselves as comrades for the same cause, as well as a group identity.

The more creative ones have contributed towards creating greater awareness by producing videos to spread the message of change and sharing them on social media. Landscape artist Ng Sek San came up with the idea of planting ‘flowers’, dubbed “Malaysian Spring” and made of small flags in the colours of Pakatan’s component parties, in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. They have since sprouted in other locations, planted by other comrades for change.

Out in the streets or in public places, strangers warm up to one another and behave as if they were old friends when the subject of politics comes up and complaints about the BN Government surface, followed by the theme of the need for change. I have encountered this myself a few times.

So have a few of my friends. One was in a taxi coming back from the airport when he and the driver started talking about politics. It seemed like the natural thing to do. It also seemed natural that the driver condemned the Government, and when my friend arrived at his destination and was getting out of the taxi, the driver said to him, “Remember to ubah ah?”

A friend in Singapore reported that while he was waiting at a bus stop, a middle-aged man who must have recognised he was Malaysian, suddenly came up to him with a frown on his face, gesturing to him to look at his smartphone. It was showing a news update about the DAP’s decision to contest under the symbols of PAS and PKR because the Registrar of Societies (ROS) had derecognised the DAP’s central executive committee.

“Stupid idiots! So damn dirty!” the man shouted. Then he grinned at my friend, and my friend grinned at him, and they both shook hands.

Another friend told me that as she was walking out of the consulate in New York City after casting her overseas vote on April 28, a fellow Malaysian who had done the same but whom she didn’t know from Adam turned to her and asked, “Have you done your part?” Without a moment’s pause, she replied, “Definitely!”

Clearly, the comrades for change are candid about their choice and have no qualms about declaring it openly. They don’t abide by the precept that one’s vote is a secret. They even go about to share their sentiment with others to get them to join the cause. They are proud to state their stand.

In contrast, BN supporters appear more muted. Er … probably with the exception of actress Michelle Yeoh. But she found out, to her exasperation, that her public endorsement of BN chairman Najib Razak for prime minister was ill-advised. It incurred the wrath of many Malaysians who bombarded her Facebook page with devastating diatribes. In the course of it, she lost many fans.

Among the comrades for change are Malaysians residing overseas. Some of them have resolved to come home to vote, from even as far as the United States of America.

Those across the Causeway in Singapore have been organising even before the dissolution of Parliament was announced to come back in groups, by car-pooling or chartering buses. A group of about 20 Malaysians resident there were even going around an MRT station bearing placards urging Malaysians to go home and vote.

Their major concern is that every vote is going to count, taking into consideration the allegations of expected widespread cheating through the participation of phantom voters and foreigners illegally given identity cards. And now, as BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has admitted, voters flown in by his coalition from Sabah and Sarawak as well. The numbers arriving, alleges Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, are in the tens of thousands.

If Pakatan Rakyat still manages to win the general election despite the odds, it will owe a great debt of gratitude to the comrades for change. It can also be certain that they will expect Pakatan to deliver on its promises. And that they will continue to assert themselves and voice their dissatisfaction if they are disappointed.

On the other hand, if BN wins, they will remain a strong pressure force. BN will face an even tougher time ruling the country being watched closely by these people who have now stepped forward to take responsibility for their country.

A new spirit has arisen in Malaysia. And the clamour for change will continue to resonate. The best scenario is for the wave for change to sweep the entire nation and carry along with it fence-sitters and even BN supporters as well. In fact, it is now growing in momentum and may peak on polling day in a Pakatan victory if the election is free of fraud. But there may yet be many a slip ’twixt the prediction and the result.

As the proverb goes, nothing is for certain until the fat lady sings, and she’s still two days from singing.

* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the bestselling book No More Bullshit, Please, We’re All Malaysians, and the latest volume, Ask for No Bullshit, Get Some More!

malaysiakini: Inside 505 Generation: The Youth vote.... by A/Prof Bridget Welsh

Inside 505 Generation: The Youth vote

Bridget Welsh 1:28PM May 3, 2013

GE13 SPECIAL In these final days before polling in the May 5 general election, more and more attention is focused on a third decisive group (besides civil servants and women) - young Malaysians, especially voters under the age of 30. This cohort comprises 2.6 million or 19.5 percent of the electorate, and are distributed over the entire country.

They are particularly featured in BN rallies, often bused to locations, sometimes paid to wear blue T-shirts. They are the energy in the electoral campaign for both sides, riding motorbikes adorned with flags and cheering with great enthusiasm. They will ultimately be decisive in the election results.

While most of the attention on Malaysia's voting behaviour is on ethnicity, as this is the strongest indicator of voting behaviour, there are also important generational divides in the electorate.

Generally, polling shows those aged 55 and above favour BN. Between the ages of 40 and 55 is a hotly contested age cohort, as the battle for the middle-aged voters intensified. Traditionally, this age group has also leaned toward BN, but has since been more divided. However, those between 30 and 40 favours the opposition, due in part to the reformasi and tsunami periods of political awakening.

For the youngest under-30 group, the 505 Generation, the situation is more unknown. Most of these are first-time voters, over the age of 21, which is one of the highest voting ages in Southeast Asia (Indonesia by comparison is 17). Polling shows the 505 Generation has the most fence-sitters of any age group, and are being wooed intensely. In these last few days of the campaign, how they will swing will prove decisive.

Studies of voting behaviour of different generations identify two dynamics. The first is the life-cycle effect, where as a person grows older, they are seen to become more conservative with the weight of responsibilities, financial pressures and family obligations contributing to higher risks of changing their vote.

The older the voter, according to this approach, the more they will stay with the status quo. In this paradigm, Malaysia's younger voters thus embrace change more than older ones.

The other dominant explanation is the cohort effect, where a generation cohort is shaped by the events of a particular period of time when they were socialised and became politically aware.

In Malaysia, the cohort effect can be seen in the different political attitudes historically. The Merdeka generation, the post-1969 race riots with its New Economic Policy (NEP), the Mahathir years of growth, 1998-99 reformasi, 2008 tsunami and now the 505 GE 2013 are all pivotal moments in time where Malaysians have formed their views of politics and where there are clearly different perspectives of issues.

In this campaign, these generational outlooks have been engaged strategically. The fear tactics now used openly by BN are, for example, generally more successful with older voters, as they are relics of old politics. BN, on its part, also taps into the appreciation of the provisions of infrastructure and basic services, especially in rural areas, as a means to woo voters over 40.

For these voters, they have seen changes in their communities over their lifetime, and BN has successfully linked this development with their governance. In this election, the question is whether the young voters have similar buttons for political parties to push.

New voters, new politics

The pattern of political socialisation of younger voters is quite distinct than earlier generations. Increasingly, they do not get their news from the mainstream media, especially newspapers, and they are shaped by their social media relationships, notably Facebook and Twitter.

Rather than read, they watch YouTube and use Instagram. Over 80 percent of youths in Malaysia are online in some form, and they overwhelmingly get their news from the Internet, largely through smart phones.

They are a politically aware generation. Malaysia's under-30 cohort is as engaged in politics as older Malaysians, and have largely similar views towards key governance issues. In particular, they see corruption in the system.

There are largely three groups of young people - those disengaged (an estimate of one in three have not registered to vote), those engaged and those on the fence, who often tune out the political noise and during there campaign period, they are being wooed to tune on. It is this last group, the fence-sitters that will have to stand on one side or the other, and who are being targeted in the last round of hustings.

There are two important distinctive elements of this 505 Generation beyond their source of information. This group is on the frontline of economic challenges, often at the lowest end of the pay scale.

The ‘zaman duit' era of money is most felt by young people who have just entered the job market, with entry salaries, or are looking for work. Disproportionately, the highest level of unemployment is among the 505 Generation, 11 percent reported last year.

Second, the 505 Generation has been socialised with Pakatan as part of the political landscape, they know that there is choice and they have more choices at the polls nationally than earlier generations.

The two political camps have strategically reached out to the 505 Generation. Of the two sides, the most programmes have been developed by BN. Led by Khairy Jamaluddin, Umno did an extensive assessment on how to engage the youth. The focus of their assessment was on economic needs, especially jobs. Thus the creation of the Jobs Fair.

The BN also targeted this group financially through spending. The most known is the smart phones initiative. Youth-friendly initiatives in Najib's 2013 Budget, for example, included the following:

• RM738 million provided for youth and sports development.

• BR1M payouts for unmarried individuals.

• A one-off rebate of RM200 provided for the purchase of a 3G smartphone from authorised dealers. This initiative is for youths aged between 21 and 30, earning RM3,000 and below monthly. A sum of RM300 million is allocated to benefit 1.5 million youth.

• Discount of 20 percent for National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) borrowers, who fully pay off their loans within one year from Oct 1, 2012 to Sept 30, 2013.

• To assist young ICT entrepreneurs, a New Entrepreneur Foundation (NEF) to be set up with initial allocation of RM50 million.

• RM3.7 billion for technical and vocational training of students.

• Securities Commission to introduce the Graduate Representative Initiative with the private sector to train graduates in fulfilling industry needs.

This comes on top of earlier targeted allocations in 2012, also extending into the billions. Many of these initiatives are needed, especially training, but the challenge is their implementation, as much of the money has not reached the youth and many of those most in need have not benefitted.

Powerful persuaders 

Pakatan has similarly developed its own youth initiative. The cornerstone has been free education and enhanced training for economic opportunities. Job creation, training for semi-rural and remote areas and higher incomes are emphasised as well, as the aim is to reach out to youth across the country.

What distinguishes Pakatan's efforts is more attention to political reform for the young, with greater calls to liberalise the political environment in universities, remove the controls on scholarship students and a broadening of the scholarship programme. The focus moves beyond seeing the young as economic actors, but as engaged political citizens whose voices matter.

On the other hand, BN did lift the ban on students joining political parties but stopped short of fundamental political reform for students.

The engagement of the two camps with the youth will ultimately come down to how the 505 Generation will imagine the alternatives. And they are divided, especially between urban and rural areas.

Pakatan has overwhelmingly captured the imagination of the young in the urban areas, but less so in the rural areas, where the BN outreach has been more effective. Interviews in the rural areas of young people in East Malaysia and the rural Malay heartland, however, suggest that the 505 Generation is increasingly moving towards Pakatan, although BN does have its base of support as well. Those moving are excited about the possibility of change and hopeful for the future.

The test on Sunday will be the voters turnout. As they know they matter, I expect high turnout. They are already heading home in many cases to vote and to discuss politics in the household.

In 1999 and 2008, the young were powerful persuaders of voting behaviour within the household and will be the same this time as well. The excitement is palpable among young people - from Selangor to Terengganu.

Like the rest of Malaysians, they are worried about their rights at the polls being compromised by disturbing reports of election irregularities. The 505 Generation is likely to be among the first to come out and protest if their first election is debased by phantom voters and possible rigging. They do not want their rights denied and are intensely invested in the future.

Under-30 candidates

Already there are more young people participating in politics. This election we see the importance of the young in political parties. A record number of young people are being fielded as candidates.

We see more people on the opposition than BN overall, as shown in the available information of the age of the candidates fielded for parliament in the table below, but the changes are taking place on both sides.

The below-30 mark is being broken. In Perak, there are five candidates under-30 - two for BN and three for Pakatan. Almost every state has an under-30 candidate, largely Pakatan although there is the occasionally BN candidate fielded as well, notable MCA. Many of these young candidates are well-qualified professionals, lawyers, accountants and engineers, and some of these have been political assistants to those in office, such as Kasthuri Patto fielded in Batu Kawan.

The numbers of those in the 30s are also increasing, up from previous elections. The youthfulness of the candidates' list speaks to the reality that Malaysia is a younger population, with 56 percent of the citizens under 30. It also speaks to the youth's engagement in politics and are deeply vested in the future.

• RM738 million provided for youth and sports development.

• BR1M payouts for unmarried individuals.

• A one-off rebate of RM200 provided for the purchase of a 3G smartphone from authorised dealers. This initiative is for youths aged between 21 and 30, earning RM3,000 and below monthly. A sum of RM300 million is allocated to benefit 1.5 million youth.

• Discount of 20 percent for National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) borrowers, who fully pay off their loans within one year from Oct 1, 2012 to Sept 30, 2013.

• To assist young ICT entrepreneurs, a New Entrepreneur Foundation (NEF) to be set up with initial allocation of RM50 million.

• RM3.7 billion for technical and vocational training of students.

• Securities Commission to introduce the Graduate Representative Initiative with the private sector to train graduates in fulfilling industry needs.

This comes on top of earlier targeted allocations in 2012, also extending into the billions. Many of these initiatives are needed, especially training, but the challenge is their implementation, as much of the money has not reached the youth and many of those most in need have not benefitted.

Powerful persuaders 

Pakatan has similarly developed its own youth initiative. The cornerstone has been free education and enhanced training for economic opportunities. Job creation, training for semi-rural and remote areas and higher incomes are emphasised as well, as the aim is to reach out to youth across the country.

What distinguishes Pakatan's efforts is more attention to political reform for the young, with greater calls to liberalise the political environment in universities, remove the controls on scholarship students and a broadening of the scholarship programme. The focus moves beyond seeing the young as economic actors, but as engaged political citizens whose voices matter.

On the other hand, BN did lift the ban on students joining political parties but stopped short of fundamental political reform for students.

The engagement of the two camps with the youth will ultimately come down to how the 505 Generation will imagine the alternatives. And they are divided, especially between urban and rural areas.

Pakatan has overwhelmingly captured the imagination of the young in the urban areas, but less so in the rural areas, where the BN outreach has been more effective. Interviews in the rural areas of young people in East Malaysia and the rural Malay heartland, however, suggest that the 505 Generation is increasingly moving towards Pakatan, although BN does have its base of support as well. Those moving are excited about the possibility of change and hopeful for the future.

The test on Sunday will be the voters turnout. As they know they matter, I expect high turnout. They are already heading home in many cases to vote and to discuss politics in the household.

In 1999 and 2008, the young were powerful persuaders of voting behaviour within the household and will be the same this time as well. The excitement is palpable among young people - from Selangor to Terengganu.

Like the rest of Malaysians, they are worried about their rights at the polls being compromised by disturbing reports of election irregularities. The 505 Generation is likely to be among the first to come out and protest if their first election is debased by phantom voters and possible rigging. They do not want their rights denied and are intensely invested in the future.

Under-30 candidates

Already there are more young people participating in politics. This election we see the importance of the young in political parties. A record number of young people are being fielded as candidates.

We see more people on the opposition than BN overall, as shown in the available information of the age of the candidates fielded for parliament in the table below, but the changes are taking place on both sides.

The below-30 mark is being broken. In Perak, there are five candidates under-30 - two for BN and three for Pakatan. Almost every state has an under-30 candidate, largely Pakatan although there is the occasionally BN candidate fielded as well, notable MCA. Many of these young candidates are well-qualified professionals, lawyers, accountants and engineers, and some of these have been political assistants to those in office, such as Kasthuri Patto fielded in Batu Kawan.

The numbers of those in the 30s are also increasing, up from previous elections. The youthfulness of the candidates' list speaks to the reality that Malaysia is a younger population, with 56 percent of the citizens under 30. It also speaks to the youth's engagement in politics and are deeply vested in the future.

On Sunday, Malaysia's youth will tip the balance of power and the force of the youth will not just be at the ballot box, as they will likely not stand idly by and see their future taken from them through the potential manipulation of the results.

Let's hope that the rights of this generation are respected and this cohort will be allowed to fairly and safely shape their own future.

---

DR BRIDGET WELSH is associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University. She is travelling around Malaysia to provide her GE13 analyses exclusively to Malaysiakini. Bridget can be reached at bwelsh@smu.edu.sg.