KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — CarpoolGE15, one of four movements under UndiBanjir, focuses on providing last-mile interstate transportation for voters who have few options when it comes to travelling back to vote in the 15th general elections (GE15).
Founder Raja Syazwani and co-founders Khairul Nizam Bakeri and Mohamad Naim Ahmad are swamped with the three of them taking turns with shifts to provide 24/7 service.
This is so that they can immediately attend to any last-minute amendments or requests on the Telegram channels by participants.
So far the response has been overwhelming, Raja said, especially as polling day draws closer and people scramble to find ways back to their hometown.
The CarpoolGE15 Telegram channels have a total of more than 3,000 subscribers, he said.
It has only gotten busier since caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri declared polling day and the day before it as national holidays, with Naim saying that they have gotten a lot of unexpected traffic since.
The initiative is a continuation of what the men did for the last general elections.
“It’s the same mission: our aim is to get citizens back to vote in their respective constituencies,” Naim told Malay Mail.
It is difficult work that requires all three activists to balance their jobs along with the work that goes into ensuring people are matchmade with the right carpools as well as implementing security measures.
Since last Monday, all three have started to organise the movement full time, counting down the days until polling day.
The challenge of organising the carpool for this election lies in the annual northeast monsoon season that strikes peninsular Malaysia which will only hamper movement if extreme flooding happens.
It is unusual to hold the general elections during this time, Raja admits.
However, the men feel personal fulfilment from doing this and Raja went as far as describing it as a “pleasure”.
“For me personally it’s just a way to contribute,” he said.
The value in the work is the satisfaction he finds in being able to utilise his resourcefulness to help other people.
