Election Fever

Noi has announced her intention of staying up next Saturday to watch as the results of the General Election in Malaysia come in. I'll be very interested to see what transpires there myself. We'll be going up to KL on the Wednesday after, if our plans work out, so we may catch a little of the post-election fever, especially if temperatures genuinely rise - as they just might. The result is not entirely a foregone conclusion (though fairly close to being one) so there's more than a small taste of uncertainty about this one.

With elections in Russia, Australia (recently), the U.S, (well the primaries, anyway), to name three big ones, and a few others, some messy, this is a reminder to me of the oddly privileged nature of living in a country that is not one's own and being close enough as an observer to understand a fair amount of what is going on on these occasions. I get a sense that, as a result of living 'abroad' I understand a little bit more in general terms about nations and how the ways in which they function differ yet share recognisable features - in this case versions of democracy. The same and not the same.

It's easy to be glib about elections, I know I often am, but perhaps it's better to be deeply thankful for them, flawed as they (all) are.