It's just a party stupid

An indignant reader of The Star writes:

Civil servants who shy away from voting

LAST Friday I was having lunch with a couple of friends downtown. Invariably the topic of discussion was centred on the coming general election.

I was shocked to learn from the discussion that only five of the 10 in the group were registered voters. The rest in their late 30s and 40s have yet to register as voters.

These people are no ordinary people. They are mostly middle and upper category civil servants. How could civil servants stay away from voting?

Although voting is still a voluntary matter, it is unthinkable how some civil servants are not bothered to even register as voters.

It is also understandable that civil servants take a neutral stance on issues related to politics, but that does not mean they should stay away from voting.

Civil servants who have not registered as voters after several years in the government service should do some soul searching. Cuepacs should look into this matter seriously as it does not reflect well on the civil service.

SP,
Kuala Lumpur.

On the register of good citizenly duties, I would say paying one's taxes is tops, followed by recycling and making sure children wear bicycle helmets when biking.

But voting -- voting belongs in life's categories of "suggested activities," along with going to the gym regularly, not washing one's hair at night to avoid catching cold, eating supplementary vitamins, and the like. Because when you're from a country like ours, elected representatives don't really represent us so much as they represent their parties. So, if you vote, you are serving the party, not so much the nation.

And since when have political parties become so sacred?