‘When did Maria Chin force anyone to vote?’

‘Maria Chin should stop forcing people to vote if they’re not inclined’

Mamadias: MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker, you are really a stupid politician.

Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah is not forcing anyone to vote. She is educating the ignorant ones not to be so ignorant.

Only then a society develops. I think you and your goons want  the people of Malaysia to continue to be ignorant so that the corrupt can steal more money from our rich nation.

HaveAGreatDay: Ti, you are getting delusional. When did Maria force anyone to vote?

Hang Babeuf: Don’t be silly, Ti. Nobody here is being “forced” to vote.

The question is whether people who want to vote can do so: meaning, if they do want to vote, whether they can register as voters without hindrance and, then, when they turn out to vote, whether their vote is properly registered and counted.

Drngsc: Ti, all politicians who believe in democracy, must encourage all eligible to vote to register and come out to vote.

That is how we gauge if the people support a certain politician or party. Have you forgotten that? So surely, encouraging voters to register and vote is the right thing to do.

Or else we have people elected who do not have the mandate of all the people. Are you saying indirectly that you are afraid of a large voter turnout? That you are afraid that you may have to face how unpopular MCA and you yourself are?

That you prefer a quiet affair so that it is easier for MCA to fix things with their handouts?

Macau Rice: Ti, you have learnt well from your Umno masters, taking on the soft targets.

Voting is the responsibility of each and every citizen of the country, even though in our constitution it is not compulsory to exercise their vote.

There are countries that impose a penalty if citizens do not vote on election day. The entire purpose to make it mandatory is to ensure that the citizens elect the government that they believe can govern their country better.

Fairnsquare: This comment is spoken by a weak politician, who knows that his party will not get the majority votes if everyone votes. How can they lead the Chinese community with such a negative attitude?

These are the real enemies of the rakyat, who serve for personal wealth and prosperity rather than represent the community. We all need to vote to remove these parasites. We should get rid of the pariahs of Malaysian society.

Malaccan: Only someone from MCA would have the shameless gall to insinuate voters are better off not participating in a democracy.

In a democracy, agreement is not necessary but participation is. Ti is twisting Maria’s noble goal to make democracy easily accessible to all into the dark lie that she is forcing voters to vote.

Ti seems to be promoting elitism, grouping himself among the wise and mature when he is neither. Perhaps his role model is the PRC (People’s Republic of China) where only the loyal cadre of the Communist Party votes.

To Ti, Red Shirts like Jamal may just be the kind of voters he can accept. He and his party are pathetic in their desperation to hold onto what scraps of power they are allowed.

MCA and its leaders have lost all support along with its virtue and principles. One marvels at what Ti and his party is willing to stoop to to remain slave-overseers over the citizenry.

When trying to find fault with Maria after being schooled by Umno’s Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, Ti is seeking to punch even higher above his weight class.

Oscar Kilo: Ti said, “I am worried and talking about the danger of compelling voters to vote as this may proportionately increase the numbers of voters who are politically less mature in relative to more mature and learned voters.”

Wow! Since when did Ti become a judge of people’s maturity? How does he know that the current voters are mature while the new, younger voters are immature?

Everyone has to live with the outcome of the election. If you don’t decide, someone else will decide for you.

Indeed, Ti is insulting the people. As for his comment, “Maria is more interested to bring down a constitutionally elected government via street protests,” I say, no, Maria is more interested in clean, free and fair elections, and in a democracy that actually works.

Patriot Abroad: Ti, you used the word “force” very loosely, yet you are a politician.

Maria has been strongly encouraging everyone to exercise their right to vote. As a politician, I would think that you would absolutely understand that.

As a politician, you would understand the crux of a democracy for the little common man and woman is the ability to influence the electoral choice however small.

You have no right to assume that a voter or voters are not “politically mature” enough to vote.

If you make that assumption, I can make that assumption about you too. In fact, from reading your writing, I really do believe you are politically immature.

Anonymous 2393771451372105: Maria is educating the people that they have a choice to vote, not forcing them.

She is telling us, all of us, that we can make a choice and vote in a clean government and get rid of this current filthy and corrupt regime.

You seem to have a problem with this.

Hopeful123: Going for a medical check-up is not compulsory, but all are advised to go for it regularly. There is no compulsion. But do it for your own good.

Similarly, in Malaysia although voting is not compulsory, Bersih and its likes are educating the public on their responsibility as citizens.

It will be these same people who will be complaining when there is bad governance and cost of living goes up. But they are not aware as to how to address these problems through the ballot box.

We often hear that a democratically-elected government must be brought down through the ballot box. Now is the time to educate these eligible voters on how to bring down such a government. They are also affected by all these maladies but do not know how to go about correcting them.

Mr Ti, now tell me if it is wrong to educate the ignorant, potential voters.

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