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 19th November recently, Malaysia was shocked by the 15th 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.
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