I am a Selangorian and I vote in an urban constituency in Selangor. I am a housewife with two teenage sons and I double up as an English home tutor. I read the main news portals every morning and I follow political news and issues on both sides. I discuss issues with my close circle of friends and family and almost all of us have decided that we will sit out this state election. Let me tell you why.

In the last general election, many of us voted for a Pakatan Harapan (PH) government but we ended up with a hybrid. We understand that sometimes we cannot get exactly what we want and that we must compromise. In politics, compromise is inevitable. However, when you order wagyu beef steak in a restaurant and instead get a plate of french fries, some coleslaw and a sliver of teriyaki beef, that is far from what was advertised and what we are paying for. We have been shortchanged but we will hold our noses to the putrid stench coming from Umno.

We voted for reforms. There have been three sittings of Parliament since the unity government started ruling. We have not seen one reform passed in Parliament. Why? If there is a will, there is a way. Maybe there is no will but just plenty of feet dragging. Still, we will be patient and see if someone we voted for gets inspired to practise what he has been preaching.

Sosma is one of the laws that we supported PH to abolish. That could have been done in the first sitting of Parliament. Instead, Sosma is now used by the same communications minister who, when he was in the opposition, used to condemn it. However, now that he is the government, he is using it to put fear into all of us by threatening that we might have the police waiting outside our doors. What is this? What is the difference with before? 

I do not remember any prime minister or communications minister threatening that the police will wait outside our doors, but coming from a PKR minister, this is just so shocking and also revealing. Yet, we will stand quietly and hope that he just had a bad error of judgment.

DAP, despite having the most seats in the unity government, has become a voiceless and toothless party. Compromise is one thing but complicity is quite another. By remaining silent, it has become the rubber stamp for the unity government and is morphing into another MCA. So why should I feed this barkless puppy with my vote? At least, MCA could work and did work with businesses so that people like my husband and brothers could bank on profitable incomes and dutifully pay our taxes. And this brings me to my final point.

The economy is getting worse. The prime minister and his economy minister keep telling us that there is no money and that they can't keep their promise to reduce the price of fuel. We try to understand. But we also ask, "Why it is that when the entire country was under lockdown during the MCO, the Perikatan Nasional PM and Cabinet could implement so many programmes and subsidies and spent billions to help us tide over?" 

As I have said above, if there is a will, there is a way. There seems to be no will or solutions but plenty of finger pointing and excuses. However, my friends and family all agree there is no real plan or strategy by the unity government to do something about the economy and that really worries us. On this we cannot just remain quiet.

We can only conclude that we are being taken for granted. We have been lumped into the category of the Chinese urban vote bank that PH can depend on, who they think will vote for PH blindly. Therefore, we have had enough. 

Let me say this loud and clear to the prime minister and Anthony Loke: We are not sheep. We are your educated urban voters who have given you two chances; once in 2018 and once again in 2022. And you failed us both times. We gave you the country in 2022 but in 2023, we will give the states to the opposition and its so-called "green tsunami". We want our message to be heard loud and clear. 

I may be a drop in the ripple across your ocean, but when enough drops dry up, you will not have a big strong wave to sweep you to power. And you need to learn your lesson the hard way. Do not take me for granted. This educated urban Chinese housewife is not going to waste her time or money to be cheated a third time. 

https://www.malaysianow.com/opinion/2023/08/04/no-third-chance-for-ph