Twentytwo13

Strange ‘happenings’ with the Electoral Roll

Deborah Sta Maria is a housewife from Klang.

Last Saturday, after baking some cakes, she sat down to have her afternoon tea with a slice of home-baked sugee cake.

She opened her laptop to check her details on the Electoral Roll to confirm her constituency and polling station. What she saw, shocked her.

Her polling station was now at her previous constituency. And she ‘qualified’ for early voting on Nov 15, instead of on Nov 19, with the rest of the population.

For the record, those who qualify for early voting are members of the armed forces, police officers, and their spouses.

“I tried calling the number on the Election Commission of Malaysia website, but no one answered. I used to stay in Subang Jaya, but changed my address to Klang before the last election,” said Sta Maria, who has lived in Klang since 2010.

“I voted in Klang in the last general election, but today, I discovered my polling station is back in Subang. How can that be?

“Plus, I am eligible for early voting. How is that possible?”

Sta Maria kept trying to contact the EC. Although she did not get through, she kept refreshing the website.

On Monday morning, her details were “updated”. Her polling station was still in Subang, but she was not eligible for early voting.

On Thursday at 2.33pm, her status was “updated” again. She was back to early voting on Nov 15, but two hours later, it was Nov 19.

Sta Maria finally got through to the EC who sent her a message on Friday stating her polling date was Nov 19, and that any change of address would be reflected within two months.

“I will continuously refresh the website from now until Nov 15, and then, on Nov 19, as I do not want to miss the chance to vote,” she added.

Sta Maria now faces another problem as the monsoon season is back.

“On Wednesday, there were flash floods in my neighbourhood. That included the road leading out to Kesas Highway,” said Sta Maria.

“I had to turn around and use an alternate route to fetch my daughter from school.

“When I reached home, I discovered that floodwaters had entered the backyard and the downstairs bathroom.”

Last year, Sta Maria was among the thousands affected by the floods. Her family had to move all the electronic items and furniture to the second floor.

“It looks like we will have to be extra careful and ensure everything is safe before we go out to vote,” she said.

Just a reminder to those voting, please print or screenshot your particulars from the EC website before you go to the polling station.

Please make sure to line up at the correct lane next Saturday.

COVID-19 CASES CONTINUE TO SOAR

There were 24,784 Covid-19 cases in the past week, the highest, over a seven-day period since Aug 13-19 (30,322). That brought the total number of cases to 4,943,701.

There were also 56 fatalities in the past week, the most since Aug 20-26 (61). That means 36,537 people in Malaysia have died from the coronavirus.

The good news is that 27,280 patients received the all-clear, bringing the number of people who defeated the virus to 4,874,177.

Worldwide, there are 639,962,709 cases, and 6,614,583 fatalities.

WORLD CUP COLLECTIBLE

The FIFA World Cup is a week away. If you want an in-depth analysis of the teams involved, grab a copy of the ‘Qatar World Cup’ book.

The book also contains vibrant full-colour posters of the 32 teams and players.

But what sets it apart from other World Cup publications is a foreword by Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

Priced at RM69.90, you can order it from or .

EARTH’S MILESTONE

On Nov 15, Earth’s population will reach 8 billion.

The United Nations also predicts that India will surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023.

According to the UN, the global population growth is at its slowest rate since 1950. It fell under one per cent in 2020. The latest projections by the UN suggest that the world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050.

VOTE WISELY

Singaporean Alvin Oon, director of Peranakan Sayang, a cultural-entertainment company, released a parody of Cliff Richard’s timeless classic, ‘Constantly’, two years ago in time for the Singapore general election.

Oon’s song, ‘Vote Wisely’, is the perfect way to end this week’s Diary.

Until next week, stay safe. And vote wisely next Saturday.