A total of 98 Malaysians in the academia who are living abroad want the Election Commission (EC) to revise its regulations to allow for automatic registration of voters and to give full voting rights to all Malaysians residing overseas.

They endorsed a petition to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak titled "Reverse Brain Drain with Clean Elections - Overseas Malaysian Academic Community Demand for the 13th General Election".

These Malaysians range from professors to senior lecturers and doctoral students who are currently teaching or studying in the United States (35), Singapore (18), Australia (8), United Kingdom (7), Japan (6), Taiwan (6), Canada (3), Germany (3), Hong Kong (3), China (2), Netherlands (2), New Zealand (2), Ireland (1), Qatar (1) and Saudi Arabia (1).

The signatories include high profile scholars such as Ong Nai Phuan (Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics, Princeton University), Tan Chee Beng (Professor of Anthropology, The Chinese University), Ho Engseng (Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University), Johan Saravanamuttu (Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) and Khoo Boo Teik (Executive Senior Research Fellow, Japan External Trade Organisation).

NONETheir initiative is also supported by other prominent scholars including Professor Wang Gungwu, one of the founders of Gerakan who is currently with the National University of Singapore and chairs the East Asian Institute, internationally well-known anthropologist Professor Ong Aihwa of the University of California-Berkeley and Professor Mohamed Zain of Universiti Putra Malaysia.

In the petition, they compliment Najib for establishing TalentCorp Malaysia as part of the effort to attract talent back to Malaysia, but reminded the premier that brain drain is also caused by factors as such rampant corruption, mismanagement and human rights violations in the country.

"Brain drain cannot be reversed without political reforms such as electoral reform, judiciary reform and media reform," they say in their petition.

Therefore, they urged Najib to promise that the next general election would not be held before the eight demands of Bersih 2.0 are fully implemented.

'Ties to motherland'

They also expressed disappointment with the latest development on the voting rights of Malaysians residing overseas.

"Despite the clear provision in Article 119 of the Federal Constitution, our right is denied by the Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulations and such denial was unfortunately affirmed by the High Court on January 6, 2012."

On that day, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed an application by six Malaysian citizens working and residing in the United Kingdom to be registered as absentee voters on grounds that they do not come under the category of "absent voters".

The proposal by the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reform to give voting rights to all overseas Malaysians is still being deliberated by the EC.

The petition reiterates that absentee voting facility should be a right available to all and compulsory to none.

"Having a right to vote allows us to have a say in the country we call home. Ultimately, home is not where we reside, but where we decide. Our vote is our tie to the motherland."

The signatories also demanded that all Malaysians far away from their constituencies, such as Sabahans and Sarawakians in Peninsular Malaysia and vice-versa, be given the right to vote as absentee voters.

Another request raised in the petition is automatic voter registration, one of the eight demands put forward by Bersih 2.0.

The 98 academicians also called upon all Malaysians, both overseas and at home, to join them in putting this demand to Najib.

"No matter where we reside, Malaysia remains our home. And it is in this home that our common interests lie, and for this home, we must cast our ballots."