KUANTAN: In the past week, first-time voter Moo Yet Hung has been busy campaigning – not for any political party but for his friends and family to carry out their duty to vote.
Even his 40-year-old mother Flora Nalatiana had not been let off the hook.
"I have been very busy convincing everyone I know to go out to vote. It's our civic duty.
"We get to choose our leaders and this will determine the future of our country and also how our economy will fare," said Moo, who will cast his vote at SK Air Putih here on Saturday (Nov 19).
The 18-year-old student wants a government that can lead the country to greatness.
"My vote will count towards that. All our votes will. Please vote," he said.
It will also be Flora's first time voting.
"Since I am automatically registered, I will vote. Moo has been pestering me to vote non-stop, telling me it is irresponsible not to.
"So, since I am working, I have to plan when is the best time to go," said Flora, who works at a hotel in the city.
Many Kuantan folk braved long traffic jams on Thursday (Nov 17) night and Friday (Nov 18) to make it home to vote.
Some, like Deanna Rustham, took leave from work to avoid the jam.
"I didn't want to be caught in the jam and so I took leave on Thursday," said Deanna, 28, who is also a first-time voter.
"I am very excited as for the first time I will have a say in choosing our government.
"I really hope we can vote in a government that leads us properly," said the software engineer who is passionate about environmental issues.
Muhamad Hakim Nasir left his house at 4am, hoping to avoid the jam but it took him a good five hours to reach Kuantan on the eve of polling day.
"By the looks of traffic, turnout will be good," said Muhamad Hakim, who will be voting for the second time.
"This time around, it feels different. So much has happened in the last five years and I think it's a must that everyone votes. We all want a stable government.
"But, I hope, whatever the outcome and whichever party gets the mandate, we must support it even if it wasn't our choice.
"We need stability. We're recovering from the pandemic and everyone is working hard. We need our country to recover economically and financially," he said.
Meanwhile, undergraduate Almirah Tan said that she got a lift "with three complete strangers" and they took almost five hours to travel from Kuala Lumpur.
"But we are excited to come back to vote. It is our first time and we are happy to have our say on who runs our government.
"We were watching live streams of some ceramah on our phones during the journey so it did not seem so long. Well, except for Adam, the one who was driving," said the university student.
Waiting anxiously in Penang to come back are university mates Sarah Mansur and Jovyn, both 20. They were supposed to have left for home on Thursday night but faced an unfortunate complication – car trouble.
"We had loaded my car and were ready to go...but it wouldn't start. Turns out the battery was dead.
"When I told my brother what happened, he advised me to send my car to be serviced before I drive back. So, we are waiting for it to be done and will be leaving later today (Friday),” said Sarah.
