GE14 – What A Roller Coaster Ride!

GE14 is now history but it will be etched in Malaysian history as the watershed of Malaysian politics.  Malaysians united in a show of people power and overthrew a corrupt regime.

For me, this election was the most emotionally intense election. My emotion was taken on a bumpy roller coaster ride, with intermittent surges of hope, worries, fears and elation.

Weeks before the election, I harboured only a very small hope that GE14 may bring about a change and a better Malaysia. I felt that Pakatan Harapan (PH) faced extremely daunting odds against the might of Barisan Nasional (BN).

During the campaign period, my hope began to germinate. I felt so encouraged by the huge crowds at PH ceramahs. For the first time, I entertained the thought that the battle cries of “ubah” and “Ini kali lah” may finally come true.

On election day, I went to my polling station at about 8.15 am and was pleasantly surprised to find quite a lot of people in the queues. I interpreted it as a good sign for Dr Michael Teo, the PH candidate for Miri.

On election night, I was a bundle of nerves. In the early hours, the mainstream media always showed BN in the lead by delaying the results for the seats won by PH. Getting apprehensive, I feverishly searched online news, Facebook and Whatsapp for the latest updates and news.  As more results trickled in, my hope started spiking up.

But when SPR started to delay the signing of election results in many polling stations and the results from Sabah were not forthcoming despite indications that there had been a Warisan tsunami there, my worries started to mount. Fears that BN was trying to steal the election crossed my mind. And the video of the police car trying to bring additional ballots to a polling station really made me mad. The news that Najib was chairing a national security meeting sent panic waves through me.

It was only after the official tally showed that PH had garnered a simple majority that I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I only retired to bed at about 4 am.

When Najib admitted defeat and said that it was up to the Agong to appoint the new Prime Minister, my heart skipped a few beats. His statements gave the impression that anything was possible.

The delay in the swearing in of Tun Dr Mahathir as the seventh prime minister was also a big cause of concern. The poor 92-year-old Tun had to wait agonizingly for almost the whole day before he was sworn in after 9.30 pm.

With the announcement of the first three ministers ( Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu and Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin) and the five members of the Council of Elders (Tun Daim Zainuddin, Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Tan Sri Hassan Marican, Tan Sri Robert Kuok and Professor Jomo Kwame Sundaram, it dawned on me that we are indeed on course for a better Malaysia and a better future for all Malaysians.

Council of Elders

May God bless the new government of Malaysia and impart wisdom upon all its leaders!