Malaysians overseas...the things they do just to get #GE15 ballots home.

Facebook post by Robyn Choi on 17.11.2022 :

This will be a long post. I wanted to record this here cos this is a highlight of my 2022.

I spent a part of my last few days in NYC answering calls and messages on whether I can help bring home ballots from NY/NJ. It snowballed into a bigger network of Malaysians helping each other - not just to be a witness for the voting (this is required by EC to verify the identity of the voter) or sharing information BUT in providing logistical assistance, transportation and money for courier - just so that as many ballots get home to be counted. I had to look up google maps to appreciate the distance and tremendous effort Malaysians overseas took just get #GE15 ballots home.

Each ballot is important for the obvious reason that the exercise of voting is a privilege and responsibility as a citizen of Malaysia in participating in democracy. However, I realised it was more for Malaysians staying overseas - their voting is means of connecting with and being part of a nation home thousands of miles away. I hear loudly and see clearly how deeply these Malaysians care about what goes on at home even if that love is mixed with disappointment. It was those feelings I felt which drove volunteers out of their way to pick up ballots, open up collection points in various parts of NY (it is a very big city and a sizeable state) and even drive hours to meet with others to assist them with witnessing and dropping off ballots - in very cold weather!

I will never forget Akmal Razak and his friends who drove more than 10 hours from Ohio (which I hear have started snowing) to Manhattan (cold front) carrying ballots of Malaysian students (from universities in Ohio, Wisconsin & Chicago) mostly voting for the first time when they all realised that couriers and post will not bring the ballots home to be counted. On that 10 hour journey, they even acceded to a last minute midnight appeal from another group of students staying in Pennsylvania to help send their ballots to NYC. That detour took a further hour and more. Akmal did all this while his ballot is no where near being delivered to him.

There was Wei who drove from Boston and arrived very late in the night with ballots from various parts of Philadelphia and Chee Seng from Connecticut with ballots from his area and picking up more ballots along the drive to NYC and around in NYC, thank you for the tube of glue for me to seal the envelopes.

Badrul & wife with their little daughter drove from upstate NY with their ballots, informing me that his son and friends will be sending by post later cos they have yet to receive theirs.

On the night before I left, I received a message late asking if I minded having a short call. Chong Loo from Atlanta wanted to know if I could meet him at the JFK airport just before I check in for him to hand over his wife and his ballot. I said yes and he went ahead to purchase his flight ticket! He was also willing to bring other Malaysians’ ballots with him to NYC and so another round of spreading the word for Malaysians in Atlanta that they ballots may actually make it home.

On 14th Nov night (15th Nov Msian time) I received more messages from anxious Malaysians asking how they could get their ballots home- ballots which they had just received - luckily there was Zev Lowe in San Francisco - who was flying out 12 hours after me and he went as far as getting a friend to pick up deliveries which came after he had left home to go to the airport. He checked in but waited for those ballots to make it to the airport. Zev, Jas Min and Aileen (a flyer from Vancouver) met in Narita. Between them 800+ ballots made it home.

A few hours before I left, I met with the NY/NJ coordinators - the local heroes who did many many rounds of running in various boroughs of NY/NJ and D.C. (Melor, Dzarif, Choy Fong, & Charlene who in turn has their own teams).

These Malaysians and their team mates continued till the last minute to meet Malaysians with ballots. I also met individuals who ran part of their journey to meet me before the cutoff time cos the train was going to take too long during peak hours. There was a couple who just got back from a holiday and rushed home to get their ballots to bring them over, just before I got ready to leave. Charlene and husband Kevin took me to the airport while passing to me the ballots she and team collected from New Jersey.

Whilst many has thanked me, it was I who owe them my thanks. I received Malaysian camaraderie and hospitality from these Malaysians. I realised I can’t call these people I met for the first time “ strangers” - because they are not - we are fellow Malaysians with a lot in common. And then when we connected and chatted, we realised we share common friends. Malaysia is a small kampung even if some of us are thousands of miles from home.

p.s. after I left NYC, there were still ballots received at my uncle’s address and today Sher Minn, my uncle and I managed to make arrangement for them to be picked up and carried back by a pilot and his connections as a last attempt - the flight arrives on 19th Nov. I still continue to receive calls and messages that ballots are still not received by many.

Thank you Cameron from VoteMalaysia who picked up the ballots to have them delivered to their final destinations - to the 12/13 states (without Perlis!) and KL & Putrajaya (without Labuan).

And special shout-out to friends at the EC who answered queries in odd hours (I owe you drinks and dinner).

It does not have to be like the Amazing Race just for ballots to make it home. I hope by next year, it will be a lot easier for the States’ Elections.