By Angie S Chin
Lead – Vote Wisely Project /SVP CAMOS (Change Advocate Movement Sabah)
KOTA KINABALU: When silence feels like suppression.
For years, Sabahans working and studying outside the state have carried the same frustration, election after election — why are we still denied the right to vote by post?
Over 200,000 Sabahans live, work, and study in Semenanjung Malaysia and Sarawak.
They are teachers, nurses, students, security guards, factory workers — people who left home not by choice, but by necessity.
Yet when election season comes, they are told to “come home if you care.”
As if caring for Sabah means spending RM299 for a one-way ticket (as one viral post recently showed on our Vote.Sabah TikTok Channel — viewed over 90,000 times in just a matter of days).
As if democracy is a privilege only for those who can afford it.
This is not apathy. This is structural exclusion.
For years, petitions after petitions have been submitted. Articles published. Voices raised. Civil groups, student associations, and even media outlets have consistently highlighted this issue — yet the Election Commission (SPR) remains silent.
A silence that now feels deliberate. A silence that mocks the very spirit of democracy.
SPR’s role is not to choose who votes — but to ensure every Malaysian can vote. And yet, when it comes to Sabah and Sarawak, the double standard is glaring.
If students and workers in the UK, Australia, or Singapore can vote by post, then why can’t a Sabahan in Kuala Lumpur?
If technology allows millions to register online, why can’t postal voting be extended domestically?
This is not a logistical problem anymore — it’s a moral one.
So, what can Sabahans do now pending SPR’s silence to respond?
1. Keep the noise alive.
Don’t let this issue die after one trending post. Keep sharing. Keep tagging. Make “Postal Voting for Sabahans” a national conversation.
2. Unite across party lines.
This is not about who you support — it’s about whether you are allowed to vote at all. Civil groups, student bodies, NGOs, and media should form a united front demanding transparency and reform.
3. Tag and pressure decision-makers.
Directly tag @anwaribrahim, @sprgovmy, and relevant ministries. The Prime Minister and the Election Commission must hear, daily, that Sabahans will not be silenced again.
4. Push for parliamentary action.
Elected MPs from Sabah and Sarawak must table a motion or question in Parliament. If they remain silent too, then we know who truly stands with the people — and who only shows up when it’s time for votes.
If SPR continues to stay silent, history will remember this as more than bureaucratic negligence — it will be seen as systematic disenfranchisement.
It means hundreds of thousands of Sabahans will once again be cut off from deciding their own state’s future.
It means the next government could be decided not by the will of the people, but by those who managed to afford a flight home. How is that democracy?
Every election slogan says “Your Vote Matters.” But when the system blocks you from voting, what they really mean is: Your vote matters ONLY if it’s convenient for us.
The 17th Sabah State Election isn’t just about choosing leaders — it’s about reclaiming the right to choose at all. We cannot allow another election where thousands of young Sabahans cry in frustration because they want to vote, but can’t.
We cannot let our silence make SPR’s silence acceptable. Sabahans have waited long enough. We are citizens, not outsiders. We deserve the same right to vote as anyone in Kuala Lumpur, Johor, or Penang.
So let’s speak louder.
Let’s remind SPR and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that democracy delayed is democracy denied. And if they still refuse to listen — we’ll remember that too, when the time finally comes to vote.
Because you can silence voices — but not the will of a people who know what’s right.
