Postal voting the choice for many young S’wakians in Peninsula

KUCHING (Oct 22): Many young Sarawakians who are currently in Peninsular Malaysia are choosing to vote by post in the 15th General Election (GE15) due to the unreasonable flight fares to Sarawak.

On average, they said that the fares charged during the GE15 period by the airlines were not appropriate to implement.

Audrey Ryan George Aini, 26, from Dalat, Mukah said that the current increase in the price of air tickets is not justified.

“During the GE15 period, airlines should charge promotional prices to make it easier for voters to return to their respective polling stations.

“This price increase will burden Sarawakians in the Peninsula who want to fulfil their responsibility as voters,” he said when contacted by Utusan Borneo yesterday.

Besides, Audrey, who is also a civil servant, explained that his choice for postal voting is due to busy work.

“I prefer to vote by post due to the busy schedule during the election.

“This is because my job is to ensure the smooth operation and voters’ safety in the general election,” he explained.

The same opinion was shared by Ellzamshah Majlen, 26, who works in Ipoh, Perak, saying that the expensive flight tickets made him prefer to vote by post.

“I will vote by post as the price of the flight ticket to return to Sarawak is ridiculous.

“Airline companies should not increase fares on the date of the election that has been set,” he added.

At the same time, he hoped that airlines would work together to make it easier for people to return to their polling stations by offering cheap fares.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Rizal Amin, 28, who works in Kuala Lumpur, said that apart from facing the complicated method of postal voting, the issue of expensive flight ticket prices was also a major problem.

“I want to go back but the tickets charged are expensive, especially since the general election is held at the end of the year.

“It is impossible for me to return at that time unless the government subsidises air tickets for Sarawakians who are in the Peninsula or the government cooperates with airlines offering low prices.

“It is not worth going back just to vote with the price charged by the airline company being so high that it almost reaches RM1,000,” he said.

At the same time, he suggested that the government needs to pay attention to implementing a suitable voting day especially for private sector workers.

Dzarif Shueef, 28, from Saratok who works in the Peninsula also made the choice to vote by post in the upcoming GE15.

He is of the view that voters who want to return to Sarawak to vote should take the initiative to buy tickets early.

“For voters who want to return to Sarawak in GE15, they need to book tickets early and avoid buying at the last minute,” he said.