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Before the official elections campaign, there was fighting among some candidates. Now, some are out and retired whilst some are newly-elected. Some left happily whilst some left unwillingly. Climaxes came one after another.

Of course the candidates need to have “capital” in order to stand out. This capital is the sophisticated connection with the people from the grass roots to leadership level. However, some have failed to get there even after several decades of hard work. This is in sharp contrast to those who gain promotions and are stable in their area of work even when they had no intentions to do so in the first place.

What kind of candidate do we need? As the boss, the voters can only watch the movie. Is there any room for them to voice their opinions? The candidates or those who are still fighting should also ask themselves if they make good political leaders.

Members of Parliament (MPs) should participate actively in the legislative and oversee the policy implementations. Many voters, however, want an all powerful representative. As a result, in order to please the people (to put it nicely, “the people's wishes are always in their minds”), many MPs did a lot of work that were not done previously.

After nomination day, voters should be critical and farsighted. They should examine the demeanour of the candidates in the past few years. The voters should then make good use of their votes to state their disappointment with candidates who speak nonsense, reject the candidates who are extreme in racism and do away with corrupt candidates.

Some people say that in Malaysian politics, the Barisan Nasional (BN) regime is not only a century-old career, but it is also a foundation of a thousand years. If you believe that there is “eternity”, there is certainly truth in this sentence. However, if you believe that the world is ever-changing, then there is still hope for democratic elections.

For many people, regime-changing is a distant and uncertain dream. Changes may bring a better future, but it may also bring a worse one. Even so, we can't deny the significance of democratic elections. We should even look forward to the election process.

Elections is an event that involves everyone. It is also a process for us to learn democracy. During the elections, many sensitive and outstanding issues will surface. It should not be simply categorised as elections candy but considered as democratic.

If there are no elections, a number of so-called sensitive issues will be swept under the carpet. If there are no elections, all the unfair and racist policies, as well as the anti-corruption voices won't be known and recive attention.

If the people in power can hear the voices of the disadvantaged races, recognise the difference between the unfair phenomenon through elections, be seriously concerned about the issues and resolve them, the process of democratic elections already has had its positive effect.

Of course, we do hope that democracy, fund allocations, listening to public opinion as well as seeking for fairness and harmony are not only applicable during the elections. We are really looking forward for a fruitful election and democracy will have taken a step further! (By LIM MUN FAH/ Sin Chew Daily)

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