There is a lot of talk for more electoral transparency in Malaysia. However, there is one issue that the authorities have simply refused to discuss. It is the ugly secret of Malaysia's democracy. And that is sadly, in reality, the poor in Malaysia cannot vote. In our country, the poor are denied their democratic rights because our system of democracy is so backward that it alienates the poor.

Why are the poor unable to vote in Malaysia? In order to vote, you have to present yourself physically at the polling station of your designated constituency. A large portion of Malaysians do not reside in the voting constituency that they are eligible to vote at as many people look for employment elsewhere. Basically, someone who votes in the Kubang Pasu parliamentary constituency in Kedah may actually live and work 300 km away in Subang Jaya, Selangor.

You need money to vote as you have to travel to your polling booth.

If I am a director earning RM20,000 a month, I may wish to exercise my democratic rights and make the journey even if I have to fork out RM150 for petrol and Plus toll charges. However, if I were a restaurant employee earning RM500 a month, would I make the journey? Probably not, as every sen counts. Spending RM80 on bus fare would put me in the red. Financial concerns automatically prevent a sizable section of our population from voting simply because they cannot afford to travel to and from their polling booths.

Of course, we could change our voting system to an online system where people can just go to the nearest polling booth to vote. But why rock the boat as the status quo serves the ruling government just fine even though hundreds of thousands, maybe even several million people do not get to vote. After all, the are poor and downtrodden citizens are unlikely to have any love for the government which has denied them many basic rights such as the right to decent wages, minimum wage, trade union representation, access to loans and credit, job security and protection from money-lenders.

In fact, since the poor generally do not vote, basic workers’ rights in Malaysia are being eroded at an alarming rate such as the recent ceiling imposed by the government on claims of damages for unfair dismissal thus allowing employers to sack their hardworking and dedicated employees without care and due reason.

It is bad enough that foreign workers in Malaysia are treated like slaves. Now they want to do the same to the low-income Malaysian working class. Even our prime minister pointed out that the upper class Malaysians need their ‘amahs’ (servants/partial slaves) and that minimum wage will deprive the rich in Malaysia of their comforts. In a nutshell, the people of Malaysia are cursed with a totalitarian government bent on preserving its grip on power and wealth, keeping it in the family (the circle of cronies).