my own self belief in politics

i have always been interested in politics since i was like... 5 years old or something. my mom is a loyal supporter of a conservative religious party which has been ruling one of the northeastern state in Malaysia for almost two decades and my dad is a professional business-minded middle-aged man who switches his political inclination as frequent as he changes his clothes but i somehow prefer my dad's way of voting in elections by judging not the party, but the personality of the people competing.

as my mom's side of the family has, for generations, been very outspokenly supportive of the conservative party[which i will refer in this article by the name Moon Party as for it's symbol], i was, since birth, had been influenced by the sentiments of anti-ruling parties. i already started disliking this line of ruling parties [which i will refer as the Blue Front] even before i knew how to do my algebra. although, as i said before, my father is not outspoken in his political views, he also comes from a family supporting the Moon Party as well. So, until last year [when i enrolled myself in some certain local university to do my foundation in law], i proudly declared myself a supporter of the Moon Party and a pro-pembangkang. Prior to my enrollment, trust me, i barely understand the system of these political games, being still a young unexposed girl i am at that time. my political belief at that time was mainly influenced not by my own judgement and observations, but because of the fact that most members of my family are supporters of the Moon Party, being supportive to the Moon Party seems like a duty for me to gain my family's approval [except for my dad]. that is quite weird, i confess, but trust me, my maternal grandfather is quite famous in his hometown for his activities as one of the tok penghulu for the Moon Party's zone [my uncle had to break up with his girlfriend just becoz the girl's father is a known supporter of the Blue Front]. So, yes, politic is a domineering factor in my family...

however, as i started attending my law classes, being on my own at my university with my family more than 300 km away from me, i somehow felt very much independent to design and decide my own views in life. i was exposed to my friends' views as well, pro or anti government. at college, i am not bound to my family's expectations concerning my beliefs in politcs. i am free to read, to hear, to study, to research concerning the political issues and make my own judgement of whether i agree with this or not, relying on my axis of internal faith and principles. and i dare say, the support i had before to the Moon Party is declining. but no, i am still not impressed with the Blue Front as well. But then, my eyes started to open up to other political parties as well and actually feel quite impressed by their steadfast attitude in holding their party's beliefs and main gist of their visions amidst that these parties consist mainly of people not from my race. so, now, i declare myself to be a political neutral. i choose not to side with anybody and i would be very much pleased just to stay behind the curtains and just observe and see on how things go in our country.

and as i grow up, i realise that i want to be more like my father in terms of political beliefs. he stated to me that political parties are quite hard to be trusted. they have so many swings in their words that my father goes ignorant bout them. so now, he focuses more on the political persona, more on the individual traits of those persona rather than their parties. in elections, my father votes based on the individual's track records and commitment and dedication to their duties. whichever party they came from is a secondary issue. and i wish to do just that. it is quite hard to analyse a political party as there is so many members in it and that makes it so very complex and complex is very unpleasent.