good night and good luck

Tomorrow the whole country will go on elections.

This time round, there are lots of issues laid on the table – press freedom, human rights, living costs,  education, public safety – affecting all layers of Malaysian society, which by default makes this a particularly interesting election to watch out for.

There have also been a flurry of movements within the Malaysian community, as each begins to discover their long lost voice, some brave enough to speak and  stand up for themselves.

Although it will be a bit too much for me to claim that the whole country is now up in arms and ready for change, it will not be too far from the truth for me to say that the country has been aroused.

If there is one thing about this election, it is that it is going to be anything but typical.

The important question now (and one that will be answered early Sunday morning) is how much of this frenzy, this agitation will be translated into ballot papers.

Notwithstanding the blatant gerrymandering and the shameless torrents of propaganda saturating the Malaysian press at the moment, it will be interesting to see whether Malaysians will choose to vote with their heads or their hearts.

Of course emotions will be stirred, political characters trashed, public fund perverted – that is expected of most, if not all elections around the world.

What will be more illuminating and lasting will be to see whether justice will eventually have its day in spite of  - rather than in addition to – all these things.

For it is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.

And hopefully, when Malaysians wake up on Sunday morning, they will finally see the light, shining clearly and brightly, which promises a better day than before.