PACA experience

My thoughts today is about what I have experienced as a PACA ( Polling Agent/Counting Agent ) experience in the recently concluded GE15. For many years, I have been very vocal and critical of our general election process and there has always been a lot of talk of this and that until one day, I decided to take up the responsibility of a PACA and see for myself what is the actual process of it all. So, I registered myself online as a PACA with the Pakatan Harapan team. I must say in all fairness that I’ve never been any member to any political party and I am what you would call a “fence sitter” if you will but I am inclined to support any political views which are good for this country. And so, in this instance, I am more inclined towards Pakatan Harapan for I find their manifesto to be beneficial or suitable to the country growth and fight. Most importantly, they are moderate in their approach and ways unlike many others who are  stoking racial hatred and religious fanaticsm. I guess, any like minded Malaysians would agree that our nation desperately needs building a further understanding, tolerance and unity of races, religion and creed. The rift continues to widen everytime our political leaders opened their big fat mouths just to win votes! Honestly, I am appalled by the despicable, unacceptable and degrading tactics used by leaders who uses race and religion to champion their cause.  I find them disgusting and a foul stench to our multiracial society and these leaders ( you know who they are ! ) should be ashamed of themselves for causing so much distress in this country.

Anyway, no wanting to side tracked, I wanted to see for myself the first hand experience of the running of a polling centre and be a historical part of the election process. In the early part, I went through the PACA training at one of the ADUN service centre and got as much information of the duties , responsibilities and carrying out the duties of a PACA. At first, it looked as though that there was so much to decipher and digest but soon, after the training, I went straight into reading the information booklet and got further clarifications from experienced PACA and also the SPRM. There is indeed so much to learn and understand. I was told that we are to dress up neatly and be professional in our duties. I guess, I ain’t the fashionable one but I guess, I, at least, do have some decent shirts and pants…..plus wearing shoes/sneakers. However, I could not understand why the trainer kept reminding us that the KTM or Ketua Tempat Mengundi is the most important person in the entire process and be real nice to him/her because he/she could give you a very hard time as the powers invested in them are quite enormous. I came to understand this later during my shift. It wasn’t a bad experience. In fact, it was a very good one.

As the days came nearer towards the election, I was asked to go to the ADUN service centre to sign the Surat Akujanji and submit my photographs and copy of the NRIC card for the Authority Card for the Pusat Mengundi and so on. It was at this time that I was told of the polling centre, my shift, my group leader and my captain together with the people I will be working with. It was all nice info crammed into my already full processor in my brain! Life went on as usual and soon enough, my day of reckoning arrived.

I slept quite well the night before the elections, thank you but I was awakened from my sleep during to the heavy downpour in the wee hours of the morning. By the time I left my home to get to the voting centre in town to cast my vote, it was raining cats and dogs. I managed to cast my vote early that morning and I decided to head towards my regular breakfast shop to have my breakfast. I knew I had to get something to eat as my shift would be from 11.00am to 5.00pm ( 6 hours ). As soon as I arrived at the polling station where I would carry out my responsibility, I immediately informed my captain that I had arrived and ready for my duty at the polling station. Soon, others joined me and I was happy to see these people. I was glad to have made a friend with one Mr. Pang who spoke to me on how to get into the voting classroom to replace my PACA partner without irritating the KTM, the position of my voting saluran and the need to send hourly datas. They were good tips and I truly appreciate that. He even went on to tell me how to do things slowly yet be attentive to the calls of names, cancelling them out and marking the numbers of voters. My Captain passed us a pack of chicken rice, a small bottle of mineral water and/or a small plastic bag of bread/biscuit. I declined the chicken rice and bread pack as I felt it was unnecessary but I took the bottle of mineral water which was a dumb decision as you don’t want to leave your polling station to pee as you would have lost/missed the data count at your polling station.

Not too soon afterthat, I went to my polling saluran ; registered myself as a PACA for PH with my KTM and took my seat beside the BN PACA representative. My duty started at exactly 10.55am that morning. I greeted my BN PACA colleague and also the Petugas-Petugas SPR warmly. The feedback was warm and good. It was a good start. My KTM is a no nonsense but fair lady. She spelled out the rules and regulations to me, had the necessary paperwork sorted out and recorded my name on some attendance book. She reminded me to be safe and keep myself safe with sanitizer liquids as we may encounter Covid patients and so on. It was a nice and timely reminder especially for a newbie like me. The staff of Petugas were young people while my KTM was a young looking lady too. Anyway, my PACA partner was Felicia, who was my junior in college days and it was such a pleasant surprise indeed. When I first took over from my PACA partner, I had to quickly digest all the things that was on my table – the name list, the counting sheet, the papers, the ruler, the pencil , the eraser and the table itself. I also had a quick survey of my surrounding atmosphere of fellow PACA, seating arrangements of the 3 Petugas, ballot box, seating place of KTM and the Voting booths. The info was all mapped out in my head , processed and ready for my action. After processing the first shift number of voters, I got down to listening intently for the info, visually checking the info, crossing them out and marking the numbers. From then on, it was smooth and  routine for me. I remembered clearly that for the first hour of my duty, I had processed 51 voters. Phew! That was a relieved and from then on, the numbers decreased but equally hectic as well. As we got into the early afternoon, my BN PACA representative was replaced by his partner, a lady BN PACA representative. I greeted her warmly  and we chatted small talk as the voters dwindled further. There was no animosity between us while there were some voters who made racist remarks and arrogant but the team ( KTM, petugas, BN PACA and myself ) were calm and very professional.  I came to know that at my duty saluran, there were 400 voters. That day, I had processed 165 voters during my shift and together with my PACA partner, we had processed a total 318 voters.

I must say that during my shift of duty, I had observed that the KTM and the staff of Petugas were very efficient, calm and very professional. I was very happy seeing them being that way. It was calm, jovial and relaxed atmosphere while the KTM looked stern but she was quite jovial and fun at times. Overall, it was a good working duty environment and one that I truly enjoyed a lot though it can be long and ardous process. That day, I did not eat anything nor drink anything while on duty. There weren’t any untoward incident but the turnout for voting was quite good. I saw a few elderly folks on wheelchairs came by to cast their votes and the Petugas were good in carrying out their duty. I am glad people came out to cast out their votes.

When it was time for me to go after my PACA partner, Felicia came in to replace me, I personally thanked the KTM and the staff of Petugas for a great experience. I signed out happy that I have carried out my duty well and headed to the bathroom before I get a busted nut! All in all, it was a good experience and one that I would not forget. In fact, I have enjoyed the experience indeed. I noted that from my observation, all the talk of unfairness of the polling centre and so on depends a lot on the credibility, honesty and efficiency of the KTM and the staff of Petugas. I am glad to have had the experience of seeing this credibility, honesty and efficiency from my polling saluran KTM and Petugas. That gives you the confidence that there are many honest and good people around. Like I said to the many who spoke to me on the experience as a PA, when I see clean, efficient and honest hands at the process of election, it gives hope to the nation. A hope that there are good honest people around who believe in tenets of faith in this country. I came in as a skeptic of the system but I came out a believer that good will prevail if good people stand up against evil.

That night, as I lay down to sleep, I could still hear “ Mukasurat 7 , No. Bilangan 177, nombor IC 530717075677 Lim Boh Lay “…….. aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..such sweet sounds………