"A New Malaysia". The first few words uttered by my parents on the morning of 10th May. Malaysia, for the first time, witnessed its first change of government since gaining independence from the British in 1957. A monumental moment that many Malaysians thought they would never see in their lifetime.
It has been more than two weeks since the surprising results. As I am scrolling through my social media, I noticed everybody is fixated on the drama-like developments after the election, from the pardoning and releasing of Anwar Ibrahim to the forming of the new government to the latest development of a high profile corruption probe. Some even spent hours following live streams about the latest developments happening outside the residence of our former Prime Minister. However, as a nation, did we reflect on the results and gain important lessons about our country from this election?
The initial reports by the Election Commission indicate the voter turnout at 76%. It was later revised to 82% a few days after the election. It was a small decline compared to the 85% recorded five years ago which could be attributed to the election being held on a Wednesday. Across social media, many posted pictures and videos of them traveling hours back to their hometown, standing in line for hours under the hot and humid weather just to cast their votes knowing that every vote matters.
Many did not realize that the voter turnout is actually one of the highest by international standards. Despite the decrease in global average voter turnout over the years, Malaysia is bucking the global trend and seeing a constant increase in voter turnout since the first general election. United States, a country that strives to promote democracy across the globe, only managed to record a low 55% turnout rate in the most recent Presidential Election in 2016. Malaysians across all spectrums are actively engaging in the political process, a key to being a vibrant democracy.
Throughout the election process, it is fair to say the election process has proceeded without any major violent incidents. There was some confusion on the day after Election Day given the nature of the unprecedented moment. A sense of nervousness can be felt across the country. Nonetheless, the transfer of power between the incoming and outgoing government went on smoothly. A peaceful process that is easy to take for granted despite many examples of violence happening around the world when it comes to the election.
The election results caught many including myself by surprise. A result widely described by the international media as an upset. However, we failed to ask the most fundamental question: Why are we surprised by the results? Malaysians have grown accustomed to the outcome of the results. Thinking that one party has a total control of the country and the citizens are powerless. This election results proved otherwise. It served as a great reminder that the outcome of an election is not permanent. If someone needs a reason to vote in the next election, this election is a perfect reason to do so.
Many factors contributed to this change of power. From the electoral results, it is clear that certain parties are dominant in parts of the country. While certain parties gained strong support from a certain ethnic group. Instead of demonizing others who have different political beliefs, do we try to understand why other Malaysians voted in a certain way?
With sophisticated algorithms from various social media platform, we are often enclosed in a silo that feeds us opinions similar to us. We practiced confirmation bias by visiting websites or pages on the internet that confirm our opinions rather seek a difference of opinion. Perhaps it is a good time to start reaching out to different sources, travel around the country, talking to people from different background, to seek for a difference in opinions. It is through these processes, we may learn to understand each other better as Malaysians.
Over the past few years, many citizens in the West have strong disagreements about democracy and have grown pessimistic with the democratic system that contributes to the rise of the populism waves. In other parts of the world, authoritarian regime is growing stronger than ever before. Strongmen leaders are amending constitution that abolishes term limits to give them unlimited and unchecked power. Malaysia, with this election results, is defying the global trend and provide a case study to the world that we are able to hold our leaders accountable for their decisions and actions.
Time and patience are much needed for the new government to start fulfilling their election promises they made during the campaign. Although many did not vote for this new government, you can sense a strong unity from all Malaysians behind the new government hoping the country will be better than before.
As a Malaysian currently living in the United States, it is a different story after the 2016 Presidential Race. The divide between both sides of the political spectrum only grew bigger since the election. National debates of policies are filled with hatred and anger and elected officials had so far made little attempt to unite the country. This has made me more appreciate on the unity my fellow Malaysians have shown after the election.
Elections do, in fact, have both lessons and consequences.
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