THE city of Melbourne, Australia has been home to 69 year-old Malaysian logistics consultant Ranjit Singh for the last 51 years.

His journey to Australia was the story of many students who had completed their secondary school studies in the 70s and furthered their education Down Under.

“There were not many universities in Malaysia back then,” the Ipoh-born Ranjit said.

After completing a course in agricultural science, he stayed on in Australia, found work, got permanent resident status and started a family.

He, however, did not sever ties with Malaysia. Nor did he renounce his Malaysian citizenship.

He faithfully kept pace with the events in his birth country.

Prior to 1974, Ranjit said his politics at best could be described as “neutral to pro-government to accepting our lot as a minority race in an institutional apartheid system for opportunities”.

The campus rumble in 1974, when Institute Teknologi Mara students tried to march on parliament, then later took over the Shah Alam campus to force the government to recognise the institution as a  university, changed all that.

It triggered the political activist in Ranjit.

“It was a big eye opener,” he said of the failed march that was met with the riot police and tear gas.

Some commentators described the events in April and December 1974 as “a turning point for higher education in Malaysia” and “a dark spot in the history of education” because it led to the tightening of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 to curtail student activism.

Ranjit convinced his family and friends to register as voters.

“I have more than 60 cousins,” he said in a telephone interview with The Malaysian Insight.

Ranjit kept in touch with other Malaysians in Melbourne, particularly the “Malaysian diaspora” and students where he has become a mentor to some of them.

His concern with the political development in Malaysia was the prime reason why he makes it a point to return home to vote in the general elections.

Prior to 2013, Ranjit said he “returned on and off” to cast his vote.

“I came when I could.”

However, in the last three general elections Ranjit did not mind making the 6,400 km journey home to vote.

“You might be wondering why am I making the long and tiring journey and would my one vote make a difference?.

“What’s one vote? What’s one vote going to do?”

He said apart from exercising his democratic right, casting that one vote is “my duty to my family, friends and Malaysians”.

“I remain an active participant in forging the economic, political and social development of Malaysia. That’s the reason why I didn’t give up my citizenship.”

When Ranjt takes the flight home on November 17, he’s also returning with the postal ballots of students studying in Australia.

He’s a runner for the Malaysian Student Council of Malaysia in accompanying the postal ballots back to Malaysia.

Masca assists students by disseminating information about GE15 as well as coordinating the collection of postal ballot papers back to Malaysia.

“If the students were to post their postal ballots via the postal service, they might not reach Malaysia on time. They might not reach at all,” he said, alluding to reports of lost postal ballots.

When he lands at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, local runners will be waiting for him to take the ballots papers to the locations where the students are registered as voters.

Masca coordinated a similar project in 2018, but on a smaller scale.

This GE15, it was expanded to include more locations.

“A lot of people who voted in 2018 were disillusioned with what happened afterwards. A government they did not vote for came into power,” Ranjit said.

He said first-time and Undi18 voters are important to fill the vacuum should some disheartened people decide not to vote. – October 30, 2022.