29 other logos Saiful Bukhari could have used instead of the key logo

Ever since word got out that our good friend Saiful Bukhari is making his way into the upcoming Port Dickson by-election, which will (mark your calendars) take place on 13 October 2018, social media has been abuzz with jokes about his choice of logo.

Since he and one of his opponents Anwar Ibrahim go waaaaaay back, Saiful just happened to choose the key (of all logos)… for reasons we dunno la ehehe. But he’s not the only one with a questionable logo…

 

The others are just as weird too

Actually, there are 30 logos given by the SPR from which independent candidates must choose one. They can’t design their own. No wonder lah the indie candidates have weird logos… SPR is the one giving such weird options.

Why anyone would choose a prawn or rabbit is beyond us. But wait! Someone DID choose the bunny for the PD by-election, and she has a reason for it!

Lau Seck Yan, the rose among the thorns in this arena, chose the bunny wabbit because…

“If we look at the rabbit, it has long ears which is symbolic of listening all the problems of the people. Besides the rabbit is also sincere, lovable, efficient and appeared soft, but with power,” – she told Bernama (quoted by Malay Mail).

Stevie Chan, on the other hand, chose the spectacles.

“This logo gives a clear view that this election should be focused on all aspects of helping the society. I chose the spectacles to symbolise the sharpness of the view. Sometimes, our eyesight deteriorates, so it is necessary to wear spectacles so as not to overlook things which seem small, but in reality are huge, such as this election,” – said Chan.

As for Mohd Isa Abdul Samad’s chair and Kan Chee Yuen’s pen logos, we couldn’t find out why they made their unique choices. Hmmm… Maybe Isa chose his chair logo because he was the Felda CHAIRperson (*badams*).

In the past, the popular choices of logos among the indie candies have been the key, horse, elephant, tree and house. Prabakaran (the youngest MP) also used the key logo for his candidacy in GE14. Azwan Ali a.k.a. Diva AA chose the elephant logo to show that he wanted to trample on and expose his brother Azmin Ali in GE14 (Sibling rivalry to the next level wei)!

“I want to strip Azmin naked, and he will be bared naked. That is my manifesto, because (knowledge of) all his sins are now in my hands. I want to contest because he needs to be wiped out. That’s because he is a leader who is most hypocritical and the most wretched in Selangor. I don’t want the Selangor people to continue to be fooled,” – Azwan told Malaysiakini.

But there’s more to indie candidacy than just random logos…

 

It’s actually REALLY expensive to run as an indie candidate

It’s not easy to run as an indie, mainly because you have no party.

“It is tough if you are without a party. Voters are not willing to give you a chance. They normally vote for an established party.” – Yee Poh Ping told The Star.

If you’re so stubborn and still have RM30,000 to spare, you can go ahead. But wait, why must invest RM30,000? Well, you’ll need to deposit about RM12,000 and then put in about RM17,000 during the campaigning period.

If you win a seat, your returns would be in the form of a monthly salary of RM11,250 and a pension of RM4,687.50! But if you lose a seat, you’ll lose RM21,000. If you want more details about expenditure, you can click here to read it.

But not everyone can qualify. To compete, you must meet these conditions:

• you gotta be at least 21
• of sound mind (not mentally challenged)
• cannot be bankrupt
• cannot be convicted of an offence by court and jailed for more than a year or fined more than RM2,000
• cannot be convicted of offences related to elections
• have not received a free pardon (unless it’s been five years or more because it’ll be invalid after that)
• must be a Malaysian citizen
• cannot be in the public sector
• for a parliamentary seat, you must be a resident of Malaysia (as in living in Malaysia)
• for a state seat, you must live in the state you’re contesting in. If you’re contesting in Pahang, then you gotta live in Pahang.

Then, there are forms to fill, rules to obey and people like the proposer, seconder, election agent, canvassers, polling agents and counting agents who are tasked to help the candidate campaign.

Waaahh… If so difficult liddat, then why would anyone wanna run for office? Maybe some of them are trying to spoil another candidate’s chance to win by stealing away their votes. But a few others are genuinely just trying to express their ideology.

Like if you wanted to express your pro-socialism, meet the requirements and have at least RM30,000, why not run as an independent candidate and announce your manifesto to help the working class? If you wanna find out more, you can read this other CILISOS article containing interviews with 3 guys who ran independently for GE13. 🙂