PETALING JAYA 7 Okt: From big towns to orang asli settlements – the Malaysia Sikhs Movement (GerakSikh) has been going around the country getting Malaysians to register as voters but, sometimes, the going has been tough.
"Apathy seems to our biggest enemy. When our members encourage people to register, some ask 'what for?'
"Our members patiently explain that this is the basic first step in a democratic society and that the freedom to vote means we decide which government we want," said GerakSikh president Tan Sri Darshan Singh Gill.
The movement started the registration exercise on March 31 with the support of the Election Commission.
GerakSikh wanted to help enlarge the voter base after it realised that many of the eligible 15 million Malaysians had yet to register
At the end of March, registered voters stood at 10.2 million.
The commission gazetted an additional 250,000 voters for the April to June period.
The movement has organised voter registration exercises in different states, even at an orang asli camp in Jelutoh, Perak.
GerakSikh now intends to register undergraduates and will work with universities to get suitable dates for the commission to set up booths in campuses.
GerakSikh was not interested in getting involved in politics, stressed Darshan Singh. - STAR
No comments:
Post a Comment