Kampua Talk

While I was on my way to attend a class this morning, I was greeted by this view in front of me:

See the white rows of papers tied from tree to tree?

“What the hell was all that? Did someone died?“ was my initial reaction. Upon approaching the nearest tree, I saw this:

“Oh…” I almost forgot. So the campus erection election is around the corner.

Campus election *smirks* Ever since I entered this university, the campus elections I remembered were following a certain sequence:

1. Whispered words or SMS-es announcing “All Chinese students are required to attend an exclusive meeting with the Student Representative Council (MPP) at 10pm tonight at the meeting room. Attendance is compulsory.” received throughout the whole day before the day of the erection election.
2. All the Chinese students in a residential college were cramped into a meeting room, door locked and the meeting started with the retiring Chinese MPPs making their speeches.
3. Being naive and innocent juniors, we believed every word that came out of their mouths regardless of the truth. Moreover, we-Chinese-being-the-minority-in- the-university-should-stick-out-for-each-other policy were being drilled into us ever since we stepped into this university.
4. In the meeting, we were asked NOT to vote for certain candidates or suffer the consequence of being kicked out of the residential college the following semester. No reasons were given but I presumed those candidates NOT to be voted were the ‘opposition’.
5. Meeting dismissed. We were asked to spread the word around knowing that we, juniors, feared of being kicked out of the comfort of our residential college.
6. The next day, the campus election day, we were asked to queue up for our turn to vote. We need to bring our metric card.
7. Some officers will be sitting along two rows of tables, taking attendance of students and giving out the ballots.
8. The students who registered were given their ballot papers - 1 for general and another for faculty candidates - with their metric numbers written on the ballot papers.
9. Like the nation’s General Erection Election, we were to put a cross next to the picture of the candidates (just don’t put a cross next to the candidates that were announced in the meeting last night) behind some closed booths, fold the ballots and proceed to drop them into a huge black box, like those used in the general election.
10. After all the troubles, votes were counted and winning candidates were announced. The end.

If we choose not to vote, we’ll be called/summoned to see our residential college’s principal. But I have no idea what happened during the meeting. By the way, referring to point no.8, are they supposed to write our metric number onto ballot papers? What will they do to us if we produce ‘undi rosak‘? What is the purpose of writing our metric number on the ballot? I thought by rights, they shouldn’t! As I have never voted for General Elections before (underage lah!) can someone please enlighten me on this? Did they write your IC number on the ballot?

During time like this every year, it is common to see maximum wastage of papers all around the campus.

No tree was spared!

Not even at the faculty!

The leaflets contain black and white picture of standing candidates with their number which look a lot like the obituary in the newspaper to me They seem to be screaming desperately:

“VOTE FOR ME!!! I CAN BE YOUR NEXT ASS-KISSER LEADER!!! YOU’LL HAVE A BETTER LIFE HERE!!!”