Fading

It had been three days. And I had been seeing many patients, using the alcohol handrub after most of the encounters.

Clearly it did something to the ink on my finger. It had flaked off and fading away even at the nails.

I doubt that the drama would have finished when the ink was gone. Ramadhan coming, but that won’t stop me from having some popcorns in the evenings ...

Day +2

It had been a couple of days, and the stain on my nails especially was still pretty obvious. According to my nurses, it was because I didn't help out with housework. Hmmmm ......

So, enough about the rumors about the stain not being long-lasting. I reckoned if I was really desperate to get the stains out, it could be possible. But I couldn't really the rush to do so. I would rather tell the whole world that I actually voted .....

Done My Bit

A mad dash right after sorting out my early morning admission and ward patients across time, I started my queue at the voting centre at around 10.20 in the morning. It was actually late, as some of my colleagues had already passed their votes before doing their morning rounds. Being on call last night left me with little choice. And the sun was blazing!

It was a couple of hours later before I casted my vote, but it was a worthwhile wait. Some friendly banter all around. I was still registered at my mother's place at Bukit Antarabangsa, meaning that my state seat would be Bukit Antarabangsa and the Parliament being Ampang. Both were held by Pakatan the last time around.

I parked my car at my Mum's place, not risking having to find space nearer the polling station. As soon as I arrived, my Mum was already there waiting for me in a political party vehicle. A free ride. And then I started my long queue which snaked around the polling centre.

At the start of the queueLate canvassing was happening, with both parties offering drinks. Those more than 60 years-of-age were ushered to the front of the queue - which nobody minded. I had twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep me company, and pretty soon, I was laughing away in the bright sunshine, snapping pictures in between.

I was due to be joined by my sister, but she was held up in Melaka as her husband was voting there. She only arrived as I was about to leave.

The was no drama at the polling centre. Everybody seemed in jovial mood. The lady and her partner in front of me declared that they were first-time voters and were excited about the whole process, kept checking on a piece of paper with them as to which lane they would be using later during casting. I finished a couple of bottles of drinks before it was my turn to vote.

The checking of the names on the list through a computer came first, after which I was given a slip as to which lane I should be follow and which room I should use. I got the lucky number four. Luckily, there were not that many people on my lane.

In the voting room, I handed the officer my IC and the lane slip with a serial number on it for them to find my name in the main registry. My name was read out loud, and a tick and a cross was put by my name after it was announced. At the next officer, I was asked to show my left index finger, which was later smothered with the now famous blue ink. The next officer handed me my ballot paper, which I inspected for marks. It was clean. So off I went into the booth.

There were two pieces of paper to cross, a parliament and a state seat. They were both two-prong fights between BN and Pakatan, UMNO and Keadilan. All Malay candidates. Then came the folding of the paper and inserting them into the two ballot boxes, one for parliament and the other for the state seats of course.

BeforeAfterI have done my responsibility, and now, I was hoping that those at the receiving end would be executing their duty in counting the votes honestly as well. May the best candidate win …….