Frustrated with the ineptness of Malaysian embassies and high commissions over the issue of overseas voters, Malaysians abroad have taken their own initiative to produce a comprehensive frequently-asked-question (FAQ) document on the issue.

They hope the FAQ will not only will benefit their overseas peers but also the Malaysian foreign missions, who can also use it as training material for their staff members.

azlan The 14-page FAQ, covering issues such as eligibility of overseas Malaysians to register as postal voters, the registration procedures, and how to cast postal ballot from overseas, was prepared last November by Malaysians living in Switzerland.

The questions were prepared by them while the answers were provided by the Election Commission (EC) with the help of the Malaysian Embassy in Berne, Switzerland.

Bala Chelliah, one of the Malaysians behind the FAQ, told Malaysiakini the circumstances leading up to the production of the FAQ.

According to him, Malaysians in Switzerland had held concurrent rallies in Geneva and Zurich on July 9, 2011 to show their solidarity with the Bersih 2.0 rally in Kuala Lumpur, despite the embassy’s advice to them not to participate.

After the rallies, ambassador of Malaysia to Switzerland Ho May Yong had offered to have a meeting with Malaysians there to explain the government’s position on Bersih.

The meeting was later held in October 2011 in Berne with the presence of Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, who was on a working trip to Switzerland.

“At about the same time, we were all focusing on the MyOverseasVote (MOV) campaign and we had developed the FAQ as a way of getting a response from the EC.

“During the meeting in Berne, Nazri announced that the government will be introducing new reforms including granting overseas Malaysians the right to vote and that the EC will be responding to that initiative.

“So during the meeting, I then explained the MOV issues and presented the FAQ to Nazri and Ho and requested that they pass it to the EC and get them to give a response. Both Nazri and Ho promised that I will get a response,” said Bala.

He received the answers for the FAQ from Ho on Nov 18, 2011.

Same FAQ submitted to Anifah

The same FAQ had also been submitted to Foreign Minister Anifah Aman in November 2011 in Melbourne, Australia but Anifah has never replied to the FAQ, said Leong See See, another Malaysian involved in the MOV campaign. 

“We wrote the FAQ after learning that the Malaysian high commissions were clueless about overseas voting... Earlier on, MOV and Bersih had written to the EC and got no reply.

“Credit to ambassador Ho for doing her job in providing assistance to overseas Malaysians,” she said.

Leong explained that MOV had intended to distribute the FAQ to all the Malaysian overseas missions but the plan was held back because the EC kept saying it will change the rules about overseas voting.

“They still haven’t. Until they change the regulations, the FAQ is still valid and can be used as training material for staff at the overseas missions,” she added.

Malaysiakini has translated the FAQ into English and published it here .

Despite claims by the Election Commission (EC) that it has been calling them to register as voters and update their details at the respective embassies and high commissions, overseas Malaysians have found that the diplomatic missions are not aware of the EC directive.

The EC claimed that even those who are eligible to be postal voters under the current laws -  full-time students and civil servants - are not keen to register.

However, a check with some overseas Malaysians last month revealed that there is no campaign whatsoever by the Malaysian missions to get them to register, and the missions have no clue on how they are going to cast their ballots.

According to the EC, the amendments to the current election laws to enable all overseas Malaysians to vote, are still being studied by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

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