THE 14th general election was something special for all Malaysians, and to be physically in Malaysia at this moment in history is an extraordinary privilege that I hope all my countrymen back home appreciate.

For the thousands of registered voters among the Malaysian diaspora, the entire experience of GE14 was just that little bit more exceptional.

I remember waiting anxiously for my ballot papers after nomination day, when the election candidates were announced. I was one of the earliest to receive my papers, which arrived on the Friday of May 4, but my relief very quickly turned to despair.

I was told by an international courier agency that my ballot papers would not be delivered to my receiving officer by polling day, due to the weekend and the fact that May 9 itself was a public holiday.

While I have always seen the right to vote as a sacred privilege, voting as an overseas Malaysian for the first time during GE14 was especially significant.

Voting is now one of the very few things I can proudly say I still share with my fellow Malaysians.

For many overseas Malaysians, voting is also our only way of standing in solidarity with those back home who oppose the squandering of our resources, the decades of corruption and the rot of racial divisiveness.

And so, it’s hard to accurately describe those few moments when it dawned on me that I would not be able to cast my vote.

But then, desperation bred something quite fantastic. After just a few messages were sent and a few ideas shared, a network of strangers was built. Within minutes, we decided that we would raise funds to buy a plane ticket back to Malaysia, search for volunteers to be vote carriers, and send the word out to other Malaysians in similar predicaments.

We would defy the powers that sought to deny us our right. And, we’d get those votes back home in time.

The rest is now history. You’ll easily be able to read about how Global Bersih, the #undirabu movement, and countless other nameless, faceless Malaysians from home and abroad came together in a moment of crisis, and shared an almost feverish passion to fly hundreds, if not more, overseas ballot papers home.

It’s just one vote, said the naysayers. It’s an exercise in futility, said others. You’re voting between the devil and the deep blue sea, said purveyors of a toxic movement to spoil votes.

Did our few thousand votes really count towards the results of GE14? Honestly, I don’t know, but it really doesn’t matter. Because the entire experience of coming together as Malaysians and doing something so impromptu, so “irrational” and so selflessly beautiful has left an indelible mark in the hearts of so many.

Years back, I had an interesting conversation with a bright, young journalist on her thoughts on our role in nation-building. Listening to her vision for a greater Malaysia filled me with hope for the future.

When we got to the topic of the country’s chronic brain drain, her tone turned to one of disdain, and she brushed off the very suggestion of ever working or living abroad.

“I’ll never be one of those who run off searching for greener pastures. They’re no better than traitors.”

I heard my younger self in those words, and I took no offence. Circumstances and, perhaps, age tend to dull the sharp edges of youthful ideology.

Regardless of one’s views on emigration, GE14 sends a clear message that the true test of a Malaysian patriot isn’t in whether one stays in the country or chooses to leave.

For the millions of Malaysians back home who may have been depressed by the brain-drain numbers, GE14 has shown you that there are many outside your borders who are still actively involved in fighting for what’s right, true and just in Malaysia. You have never been, and are not, forgotten.

And for the millions of “traitors” who make up the Malaysian diaspora, GE14 has become a validation of our loyalty, love and patriotism.

Let GE14 remind you that we, the patriots beyond the borders, can truly be a part of this new narrative that will lead Malaysia to become the great nation she was always meant to be. – May 28, 2018.

* Julia Yeow has been in journalism for two decades and counts it as her first love, despite enjoying brief stints as a lecturer, clown and salad maker. She is a strong believer in social justice, and holds that there is sometimes more truth in the greys, than the blacks and whites.