Today I woke up at 7am to brave the unimaginable (Actually quite imaginable here) parking situation at a school nearby just so I could cast a ballot and have a say, albeit a small one, in the future of my nation.
This General Elections sees the first ever use of the indelible ink - an ink that is placed on your index finger to mark the fact that you have voted and to curb the problem of multiple voting. The ink is said to last anywhere from 4 to 5 days. Malaysians, being the cheeky bastards they are, have already found numerous methods of washing off the ink within minutes. Whether to prove a point or just to appear clever, currently - about 3 and a half hours after the polling stations opened - many have already posted on their Facebooks and Instagrams, pictures (some even sequences) of their fingers untainted and looking as clear as day.
But more intriguing to me are the ones who relish so much this little symbol of patriotism.
Yes, we're all doing our part. About a million of us are as we speak, and consequently about a million of us are also bombarding instagram with unnecessary pictures of what appears to be a mass rebellion against manicures.
Our bright future generation, also known as the generation that grew up on positively reinforced parenting, also known as the generation that thinks they're too good for anything they're offered, and also known as the generation that thinks they all deserve super stardom in one way or another - has seen fit to inadvertently create a social status symbol out of what really is a simple solution to some electoral problems in our nation.
I see so many people sitting around in coffee shops, walking down the street, looking at the hands of fellow citizens - judging their decisions on whether or not they voted. So, if I voted, does that make me automatically OK to smile at and if I didn't, should I welcome your frowns of disapproval?
I faltered and found myself spiraling out of control into an abyss of judgement - as I too peered around and found myself looking for this little symbol of apparent hope. Ever judging with piercing glares only to realize the result of this meant I voted so I could judge others. Its amazing how something so important to our future can so simply become a trend. Are our ego's so lacking in maturity that we still strut about in such fashion?
The most I can do is hope that we did it for the right reasons - and more importantly, I hope we know what those reasons are.
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