Rileks jap

When you have nothing better to do, try this.

While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction and there's nothing you can do about it.

Bigger than...

This is a simple website but I believe the idea and the spirit behind it is extremely significant.

Training session

I attended the training session to become a poll clerk yesterday. It was good fun. Most other election staff are much older, perhaps in their mid-50s. But there were two who were probably in their early 20s. It seems fairly straight forward. Greet the voters as they come in. Ask them their name and address. Ask the two official questions: "Are you the person registered in the register of electors for this election as follows (read up their entry in the register)" and "Have you already voted here or elsewhere at this election otherwise than as a proxy for some other person?". If they answer correctly, then they must be given the ballot paper. Stamp it first, then make sure they put it into the correct ballot box. Say thank you and DONE!!! There were also some discussions about how to deal with difficult voters, polling agents and tellers. But nothing too difficult to understand there either. Ensure they behave properly, or otherwise get the Presiding Officer to instruct the police to arrest them. Simple. But one thing for sure is that it will be one very long day. Start at 6.15am and finish at 23.00 pm.

Whom shall I vote?

Today I received both my polling card and a letter to confirm my appointment as poll clerk on election day. Good. At least that bit is done. But I am still unsure how to vote on 5 May. Initially, I thought about voting Respect. But I know definitely that they will neither form a government nor a strong opposition. Tactically, voting for them will not create much benefit. Then I thought about Lib Dem. But their emphasis on individual's freedom to do things that I disagree with is worrying. I do like their plan to replace council tax with local income tax. And I admire their consistent opposition of the war on Iraq. But I dislike their policy on immigration. I then thought about voting for a party that favour businesses. A party that would allow free market to flourish. But there is not much difference between Labour and Conservatives on this matter. I personally feel that immigration is a serious issue and that Britain do need a limit on immigration. Labour claims that they are already taking actions to fix the immigration problem. Tories are saying that they could do better. If the election is a one-issue thingy, than I am almost certain to vote for the Tories. Still undecided, I took the political compass, Times political compass and WhoShouldYouVoteFor tests. In the political compass test, my scores are: Economic (left/right): 1.63 Social (libertarian/authoritarian): 1.23 In the Times political compass, I scored: Social 26 Economic 36 On Who Should I Vote For, I scored:

Labour -20
	Conservative 19
Liberal Democrat -8
	UK Independence Party 16
Green -24

It seems that I am probably a centrist but with a degree of right-wing authoritarian views and that I should vote Conservative. Let's see if I change my mind within the next two weeks.

Why?

Several people asked why I choose to write on this blog and why I send articles to Malaysiakini. Why do I not send my writings to publications like Harakah or harakahdaily? In reality, I do send articles to Harakah and Harakahdaily. But they do not publish my writings. It is not that I do not want to contribute ideas to Harakah and the likes. It is them who do not accept my writings for publication. Not a problem for me... And I don't think I should limit myself to just Harakah either.