Reclaiming Hope for Malaysia: Onwards to GE15
BUTTERWORTH – A talk on the upcoming 15th General Election with the title: Reclaiming Hope for Malaysia was held on 2nd October 2022 at the NBVM Nativity Centre from 10.45 a.m. to 12 noon comprising of prominent guest speakers Mr. Jerald Joseph, former Commissioner of SUHAKAM who has served two terms, Mr. Anil Netto, President of ALIRAN and moderator Mr. Eric Bryan from Community Action Network (CAN).
This event was organized by CAN with the aim to increase awareness and discuss about the upcoming general election (GE). Mr. Anil Netto, as the first speaker highlighted on several key points as to the current situation in Malaysia, who to vote for and what can we do? Notably, Mr. Anil emphasized that we did achieve success as higher minimum wage, anti-hopping law, UNDI 18 was implemented and former premier Najib Razak being jailed.
He further enlightened the audience on the current political coalitions and listed the People’s Agenda which includes:-
- Upholding the dignity & quality of life of the people;
- Promoting equitable, sustainable development & address the climate crisis;
- Celebrating diversity & inclusivity;
- Saving democracy & upholding the rule of law;
- Fighting corruption & cronyism.
As Malaysian voters, he encouraged us to reach out to fence-sitters and get young people to vote.
Next, we had our second guest speaker Mr. Jerald who started his speech by jogging everyone’s memory on what took place during the 2018 GE and how the Sheraton Move left the rakyat feeling cheated and disappointed. Nevertheless, he stressed on the power of our vote during GE 14 and how it changed and disrupted the nation quoting it as a “political tsunami”.
Mr. Jerald also pointed out several new things which occurred in Malaysia such as The Bendera Putih Movement, Pasir Salak MP being fired by the Ministry of Finance, the Hartal Doktor Kontrak Movement and others. Besides, in discussing about UNDI 18, Mr. Jerald explained that it is crucial to have conversations with young voters as we have a responsibility to prepare the youngsters to have a basis to understand who they are going to vote.
Moreover, he also shed light on several things such as the Wang Kelian Death Camps, Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) and Custodial Health Unit.
The program which was participated by over 30 people, ended with a question-and-answer session tackling questions on postal votes and the choice of Prime Ministers. All in all, it was a fruitful session leaving the audience with a fiery passion to cast their vote!
