The real issue is system of governance

GOING by a saying, the promoters of #UndiRosak have not eaten enough salt. This means they do not have enough years of experience to be able to wise up to the real issue in the coming "mother of all elections".
They have not personally seen the Malaya and then Malaysia from the 1950s to the present. They lack the benefit of hindsight to make educated comparisons of the 50s and 60s with the present.
Nevertheless they are talking and advising voters as if with great wisdom. Their advice is nothing but emotional venting of anger and frustrations.
This is obvious from #UndiRosak campaigner Hafidz Baharom's frequent repetition of "I don't care" during the forum. He said: "I gave Pakatan 10 years to grow up, but they did not grow up. Now, just go out and vote, but ruin your vote. Just show that you have lost faith in them."
Poor boy. He is throwing tantrums. What makes him believe that by spoiling votes incumbent politicians will buck up and give better governance and opposition politicians will suddenly "grow up" to meet his expectations of them, whatever they are?
In throwing tantrums, #UndiRosak totally misses the real issue about GE14. They appear like spoilt children. It is simplistic to see only matters of parties and persons. If you don't like this or that party, or this or that person, go and spoil your votes "to teach them a lesson". They are not seeing the wood for the trees.
The next general election is not about parties and personalities. It is about the system of governance.
Which system do we want to be governing over us – the existing ... or the time-tested Westminster-type democracy that we started with and which has been hijacked?
By campaigning that voters who support neither this nor that party, or neither this nor that PM candidate, should spoil their votes, they are knowingly or unknowingly trying to keep voters under the tempurung.
When will voters learn that they are the kingmakers? When will they gain confidence that changing governments is not the end of their world, or disastrous to the country in any way?
After all, the country has been running on autopilot for decades. A change of government cannot make things worse, even if the new government is unable to repair the damage done over those decades in a single term.
But by being bold enough to vote for a change the voters would have learnt a very, very important lesson in democracy, that is the power to make changes is in their hands. So if the new government does not live up to their expectations, at the next election they can vote it out. This will set in place a rotational system as in the UK and other working democracies.
Thus Malaysian voters would have come out from under the tempurung and learnt the real meaning of democracy. They would acquire maturity as voters. They should be encouraged to vote, not spoil their votes. Voters must not fall for this simplistic "spoil your votes" tantrum.
Voters must also rise above pettiness and realise that repentance is not beyond human nature. Criminals have repented to assist law enforcement agencies. While leopards cannot change their spots, leopards can be tamed.
The general election is a golden opportunity to bring back the system of democracy.
Ravinder Singh
Penang