Of bloggers turned politicians (and vice versa) [Part 2]
March 12th, 20082 days before the elections I blogged about them.
Little did I expect that most of them would win their seats, and even those who lost did very well.
DAP’s Jeff Ooi, 52 became the Jelutong MP after defeating BN’s Thor Teong Gee by more than 16,000 votes.
PKR’s Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, 26 became the youngest Yang Berhormat when he defeated BN’s incumbent Datin Paduka Seripa Noli Syed Hussin by 2,863 votes at DUN Seri Setia, Selangor.
DAP’s Tony Pua, became Petaling Jaya Utara (Selangor) MP when he defeated the BN’s Chew Mei Fun by almost 20,000 votes.
PKR’s Elizabeth Wong, won DUN Bukit Lanjan (Selangor), beating the BN’s Yong Dai Ying by 5,155 votes.
PKR’s youngest supreme council member Badrul Hisham Shaharin, 30, lost to Khairy Jamaluddin in Rembau by 5,746 votes. But still he got a commendable 20,779 votes.
PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar, 27 sensationally beat Datuk Shahrizat Abd Jalil by almost 3,000 votes to become Lembah Pantai MP.
I think all the politicians-turned-blogger I mentioned earlier won, including DAP’s Teresa Kok who got GE2008’s biggest majority: 36,492 against BN’s Carol Chew in the Seputeh parliamentary seat in KL.
…for those in between, politicians who became bloggers the moment their candidacy became apparent, or vice versa :
PKR’s Loh Gwo-Burne became MP of Kelana Jaya when he defeated the BN’s Lee Hwa Beng by 5,031 votes.
DAP’s Hannah Yeoh, 29, won DUN Subang Jaya (Selangor), defeating the BN’s Ong Chong Swen by 13,851 votes.
Maimun “Tok Mun” Yusuf, 89, independent candidate for Kuala Terengganu parliamentary was thrashed badly (only 685 votes) but she’s become an inspiration for many Malaysians.
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If you want to have a better future for our children in Malaysia, do you part by signing the on-line petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/RCER2008/petition.html
This is one of the way (non-violence) to bring our message to the Government. Don’t just sit there, stand up and be counted!
Why do we need to reform the Election Commission?
1) Gerrymandering. The discrepancy between number of voters in voting areas is too great. The smallest parliamentary seat (Federal Territory, Putrajaya) has only 6,608 voters while the parliamentary seat for Kapar in Selangor has 112,224 voters. What this means is that one vote in the Putrajaya parliamentary constituency is equivalent to 17 votes in the Kapar constituency.
2) Phantom voters. A common tactic is to ‘buy’ the identity card of the voters. Party members from the ruling parties will then vote on the voters’ behalf. Random checking of a person’s identity must be conducted using those finger print checking device (like the bank use). Any voting done on another person’s identity must be made a serious offence under the election law.
3) Postal votes. The rules on postal voting must be reviewed, tightened and amended. The current rule favours the ruling party as the armed forces personnel and policemen who vote by ‘postal voting’ would obviously not jeopardize their career or promotion prospect by voting for the opposition. Voting under postal voting is not secret as it is under the watchful eyes of the senior officers.