COMMENT | This is real, of course. A lot of people say they do not like politics and are put off by it. They have good reasons for their disillusionment.

Now, with the 15th general election (GE15) hovering over the horizon, the refrain is getting louder.

While there is no official study (not in Malaysia, anyway), there could be three probable reasons why many dislike politics.

First, to the common people, politics imply conflicts, and conflicts can be messy.

They have seen the discord, the antagonism and the collision of interests, and almost always, they walk away with the view that politics is not about serving but about squandering. That’s the second thing.

Thirdly, they think politicians just cannot be trusted. Especially when many politicians have shown that they are in politics for self-serving interests. Look at the increasing number of political frogs around us.

Let us roll back to March 12, when the Johor state elections were held.

Were these the reasons for the listless mood of the polls?

The turnout was just 54.9 percent - the lowest in Malaysia’s electoral history...