Twentytwo13

Top comedians get serious, call on Malaysians to go out and vote

Aspiring comedian Kishen Alex Raj is honoured to rub shoulders with some of Malaysia’s funniest people for a good cause.

The corporate social responsibility, events and internal branding manager of Sunway Group is part of a video urging Malaysians to go out and vote in the nation’s 15th General Election tomorrow.

Among the other comedians involved are Douglas Lim, Harith Iskander, Shamaine Othman, Javin Jay, Dr Jason Leong, and Kuan Jehan.

“Most of the time, people think comedians only want to say something funny. They do not realise we also speak about serious issues,” said Kishen, who hopes to have his first one-hour stand-up show early next year.

“We hope this video will make people realise that we comedians care for the country, too. Also, the video is apolitical. It doesn’t matter who you vote for, just go out and do it.”

As to how he was roped into the project, Kishen joked that it was because of “cronyism”.

“People always allege that government projects are awarded based on cronyism. While this is not a government project, I got in because I know Jehan,” laughed Kishen, who recently finished runner-up in the ‘Short and Sweet’ comedy competition organised by the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre.

“It was Jehan’s idea to come up with the video, and he was the one who got all of us together.”

Kishen said he was delighted to be a part of history in 2018 when he covered Malaysia’s 14th General Election as a journalist, which saw Barisan Nasional (BN) being booted out of Putrajaya after ruling for six decades.

“I was on the ground when BN suffered its first election defeat in 2018. While I no longer work in the media line, I hope to contribute by urging Malaysians to vote,” said the 35-year-old, father of one.

On the elections, he said all coalitions have their “good, and bad politicians”, and that people should vote for those who can best serve them.

“Do not succumb to peer pressure. Read and analyse what the politicians say. Separate fact from fiction, and may we get the best government.”

WHO WILL BE PM?

Last weekend, I was at Perikatan Nasional’s prime minister-designate, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s ceramah (rally) in Ipoh.

On Wednesday, I was in Taman Subang Perdana, Sungai Buloh, as Pakatan Harapan’s prime minister-designate, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, addressed the crowd there.

‘Abah’ (father), as Muhyiddin called himself when he was Malaysia’s eighth prime minister, lived up to his moniker with his cool, calm and composed speech, peppered with jabs and jibes at his opponents and rival political parties.

Although he got the crowd fired up, it was his Bersatu deputy president, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, and Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, who stole the show.

Sanusi, in particular, had the crowd in stitches with his barbs against Anwar, although some of the jokes were unsavoury.

In Sungai Buloh, Anwar was treated like a K-pop idol or, for someone in his 70s, a rock star.

He had the crowd eating out of his hands and showed why his popularity shows no sign of waning.

As we enter the final lap of campaigning, the race to Putrajaya is still too close to call.

It could be that no one coalition would get the minimum 112 seats needed to form the new government.

And if the coalition with the most seats cannot find other partners, then it would be up to our Agong to interview the MPs before naming the prime minister whom he thinks has the support of the majority, as stated in the Federal Constitution.

Having had the opportunity to interview several candidates contesting in GE15, I would say Syed Abdul Razak Syed Long Alsagoff, who is running as an independent in Sungai Buloh, is the most colourful character.

It would be great to see him in Parliament, but that is highly unlikely, as he is up against Datuk R. Ramanan (Pakatan Harapan), Khairy Jamaluddin (Barisan Nasional) and four other candidates for the parliamentary seat.

May the best person win.

VOTE ’EM OUT

Willie Nelson closes out this week’s Diary, which comes out a day earlier than normal, with advice for Malaysian voters: “If you don’t like who’s in there, vote ’em out”.

Until next week, stay safe and vote wisely.