Woman in wheelchair among early birds

Lee: Cast her vote at the Bertam Valley polling centre despite health issues.

KUALA LIPIS: Wheelchair-bound Marina Yusuf, 44, hit the road at 5am for the two-and-a-half hour ride to Cameron Highlands to fulfil her responsibility as a voter.

By 8am, when all the 29 polling stations for the Cameron Highlands by-election opened, she was already at her polling centre at Sek­olah Kebangsaan Tanjung Gahai here and was the first in the queue at Stream 1.

Marina, who resides in Setiawangsa, Kuala Lumpur, was accompanied by her sister Sha­yusliza Yusuf, 45, who is also a registered voter in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary constituency.

They were driven here from Kuala Lumpur by Shayusliza’s husband Rusli Ismail.

“It’s the third time I’m voting at this polling centre since the 13th General Election. We returned to our hometown as we wanted to fulfil our responsibility as voters,” said Mar­ina.

An Election Commission worker helped her to the car after she had cast her vote.

Another wheelchair-bound voter, 82-year-old Siti Aminah Mat Akhir from Kampung Tanjung Gahai said her physical condition would not stop her from exercising her right.

“The feeling is the same whenever I exercise my right as a voter. I vote as it will determine the fate of our country,” she said. — Bernama