The day has finally arrived. The day started early for me and I had to confess that I was feeling excited. Although it was not the first time I would be casting my vote, there was something in the air today which made me feel optimistic.
And it had nothing to do with Diva Azwan Ali whose name will appear on my ballot paper.
I went straight to the ward for a quick round, and since Julia was sorting out my Mum at the Bukit Antarabangsa with her vote, I decided to have a quick breakfast first.
I finally arrived at Bukit Antarabangsa at 9.30, joined the queue in the bright morning sun which was a good 150 meters long. The first lot - including my Mum - had already fulfilled their duty and had left the centre. Plenty of people were canvassing, including the Parliament Candidate for a certain party who came to shake our hands, trying to convinve us to vote for her if we remained undecided. The whole situation was jovial, plenty of banter and everybody were in good spirit.
But unfortunately, SPR was not at their efficient best. It took me almost 3 hours to complete the process and not without some confusion in between. And that was despite knowing my lane and serial number up front.
The queue was just as long back in 2013, but it took me less than a quarter of the time. The instructions this time were pretty confusing, as we were told to queue at a wring lane, with people coming later being able to get in front.
I thought that the wait was over when I got into the voting centre compound, but it was not to be. It took a good hour before thengs were moving and I felt that the procedure could have been refined and more efficient. Luckily, there were no incidence at the centre because if so, I don’t think that the SPR were able to cope.
I was done by noon and headed back to the apartment and had a shower before going out again for lunch at Pavilion. The city centre were very quiet and with the nice weather, I decided to enjoy the day.
Next came the wait for the results ....