REFLECTION 3- 15TH GENERAL ELECTION FOR BETTER FUTURE!

 

For the third reflection entry, I’m going to write my personal experience which is closely related to SDG number 16, to promote peace, justice, and strong institution. This SDG plays an important role in envisioning transparent, effective, and accountable institutions that promote non-discriminatory laws and policies, and combat corruption, bribery, violence, terrorism, and crime.   

SDG 16 calls for humanity to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels. The establishment of this goal clarifies that peace is a critical condition for human development. The goal and its targets address important conditions for peace such as inclusion, participatory decision-making, and protection of children

On 19^th November recently, Malaysia was shocked by the 15^th  general election to choose our tenth prime minister. It was a very intense occasion. Other than that, I am eligible to vote in the 15th General Election (GE15) due to the amendment to the constitution gazetted on Sept 10, 2019, which lowered the voting age to 18 years, as well as introduced automatic voter registration (AVR) for adults aged 18 and above.  Since I turned 19 this year, I’m eligible to vote in this general election. Besides, as this is my first time voting, I do so much research about all parties that participated in this general election.

I feel very proud of Malaysian citizens going out for voting. Even though there are people said GE15 will be the first general election where the impact of voters in the 18- to 20-year-old age bracket will be seen. However, it remains to be seen what effect the decision to expand the enfranchisement to this group will have on the Malaysian electoral process.

Besides, voting is one important way to participate in our democracy. Malaysia is a democratic republic. It is democratic because the people govern themselves, and it is a republic because the government’s power is derived from its people. This means that our government – federal, state, and local – is elected by the citizens. Citizens vote for their government officials and these officials represent the concerns and ideas of the citizens in government. For example, your Governor is elected by the voters in your state. The Governor oversees the executive branch of your state. Thus, I think that my vote matters as it will stimulate action over the next 5 years in areas of critical importance for humanity and the country

Other than that, this 15th general election was very intense because there was no majority choice, however, his majesty YDPA held a special discussion session, to ask all the Malay Kings about the process of appointing a new Prime Minister. Results from discussions unanimously appointed Datuk Seri Anuar Ibrahim as the tenth prime minister of Malaysia.

The special discussion is also intended for His Majesty to get the views of all Malay Kings to enable him to make the best decisions for the interests and well-being of the country and the people. Moreover, this process took about 5 days to officially announce the new prime minister. At this moment, I know it was hard to decide on a new leader to lead the country for a better future.

Throughout this experience, I personally realized that our vote matters to change our country for a better future. Regarding that, I think that everyone that eligible to vote, please do so. This general election does not come often it only comes in 5 years once. So, choose the right one that is trusted to rise a voice and make a change for our country.

REFLECTION 2- PINK OCTOBER: WE CARE!

For the second reflection entry, I’m going to write about my personal experience which is closely related to SDG number 3, good health and well-being.

I joined the program under Kuliyyah of Nursing, “Pink October: We Care!”. The program starts from 29 October to 30 October. There are a lot of activities they provide within the two days. But for the first day, there was only talk by the expert and a forum with breast cancer survivors. It was so amazing to hear their survival story. And on the second day, there are fun runs, canting batik, and many more.

This event’s main purpose is to create awareness among students about breast cancer. This is because the majority who suffer from this illness consist of young women at about age 20s. So, there are a lot of precautions and early diagnoses to notice early before it gets worse. This program related to SDG 3 aims to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment. Vaccination and screening for cancers in women, notably breast and cervical cancer, as well as colorectal cancer, are examples of how we can work towards achieving this goal.

I feel very proud of the spirit of breast cancer survivors because they stay strong until they are free from this disease without feeling wanting to give up. Even to some people cannot be cured anymore they keep attending their chemotherapy and continuously take medicine and treatment that suggest to them.

Obviously, this program opened my eyes that we should take early precautions. Don’t think that just because we are young, we can’t have this disease. Because this disease doesn’t know your age! The talk also emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis of these cancers to promote regular screening for women, and vaccination again human papillomavirus (HPV) for our daughters in the future.

Furthermore, due to early detection and treatment, mortality rates have decreased for several cancers, notably breast cancer. For these, the focus is increasingly turning towards survivorship and rehabilitation. In addition, I now know more than ever before about how to reduce the risk of cancer. Some of the ways are avoiding taking tobacco and alcohol, being physically active, screening for breast, bowel, and cervical cancer once a year at least, and taking vaccination against HPV to prevent cervical cancer.

Other than that, on the second day of the program, I joined fun runs in order to commercial a good habit of being physically active. The route they provide is about 5km. It was so far.  

Through this program, I personally realized that there are a lot of people that need our support to live in this community. Regarding that, I think we should raise more awareness over the years because I believe that outside there, there still have people who take this case as trivial things. Other than that, I also realize that I’m so lucky to have this early exposure to this kind of disease. I’m glad I make the decision to join this program.

REFLECTION 1 - VOLUNTEERS CLEANING THE BEACH

Nur Nabilah Bt Mohd Sanusi
2218676
Course title- Sustainable development: Issues, Principals and Practices
Course code- SCSH 1201
Instructor's name - Asst. Prof. Dr. Nilar Win @ Fahmida
University: International Islamic University Malaysia

For the first reflection entry, I'm going to write about a personal event that is directly relevant to SDG number 14, life underwater.

I took part in a Soul Day Trip event on Saturday of last week. They offer various amusing activities, such as beach cleanup and exploration. I took part in the volunteer initiative organized by the SOUL Day excursion. They offered beach cleaning and exploration as an activity. This program held in Pantai Pelindung. Since this was my first time participating in an outdoor activity, I am quite enthusiastic about the program. In addition, I had never participated in a beach clean-up before, so I was very eager to do this because I enjoy trying new things and doing unconventional things.

The pictures of all the members that join this volunteer program.

Upon arrival, I received gloves and a plastic bag to collect the trash around the beach. This program has come with the purpose to keep the beach clean as well as keep marine life healthy. I can say that this program is closely related to SDG number 14, i.e life underwater. When I looked around, I found out that the trash on the beach makes it unattractive and harms marine life through suffocation, ingestion, and entanglement. All these hazards make it impossible for marine life and people to enjoy the beach and needed action to be taken.  

My teammates took a picture before started collecting rubbish around the beach.

I discovered a lot of items that shouldn't have been at the beach when cleaning it. I picked a lot of rope, sticks, candy wrappers, straws, plastic cup fragments, cigarette butts, and plastic bottles. I am aware that fishermen used to collect their catch at the sea, but that does not excuse their poor maintenance of the beach. Knowing that makes me a little frustrated because it is our duty to care for our environment. Therefore, I believe that we need to raise greater awareness in order to ensure that all of us take care of our environment in a good condition.

However, I was quite thrilled when I picked up all of this rubbish because I felt like I was making a difference and assisting in keeping the beach clean, which is how it should be. I had a lot of fun because while doing this, I was also exercising which is something I truly enjoy doing.

Clearly, this program had positively impacted the participant. The students who contributed were able to instill cleanliness and a spirit of love for the environment in themselves. As we acknowledge that the beach is one of the attractions for tourists from outside the country, we must maintain the beaches' attractiveness since it will encourage more visitors and also boost the country's economic level.

Along this program, I personally realized that there were actually various platforms and alternatives to raise awareness in our community to join this volunteer together to clean the beach for good and it was not difficult to be executed. Furthermore, I also realized that it is such a great ni'mah to mesmerize the eyes to gaze at the beautiful creatures that hover all over the beach and on the deep-sea waters. It dawned on me that we should always be grateful for every single thing that we have and we can’t do damage with anything that Allah has given us because later we will be questioned why we didn't take good care of it.

I was glad to be part of this volunteerism because I learned a lot in this program as it really opened my eyes to new things I haven't known before and it was just great to help make the beach a little cleaner. I will definitely come again to participate in more beach cleans-up in the future and bring a lot of people along with me.