By Asohan Satkunasingham

If there is an area that really needs a disruption today, that will be the way we choose the person as our Parliamentarian or State Legislative Assemblyman. That person must be our guest that we host in our August House or the various state assemblies. Time has come that we treat every election as a corporate exercise. In the corporate world, if there is a vacancy, it will be filled by the most competent candidate that will have a fit of his behavior and skills aligned to the culture of the Company. The person is totally appointed by his capability and not on "cablelity" (the ability to pull cables), thus devoid of a candidate to be hired by popularity just like most of our current elected representatives.

A check in The Star shows that we have about 62 registered political parties formed (I stand corrected with the figure) either individually or within a collation to represent us with our representatives. My question, why can't we directly elect these representatives without being further represented through their respective parties? Is there any good in such arrangements with a party representation? All the happenings around "party hopping" could be avoided without a need to enact an anti-hopping law if we decide to choose the person based on his personality and not to the party's allegiance to represent us

Hence, as we decide to choose by personality, we need to introspect the type of characteristics we are looking in a candidate for GE15. In my opinion, I can provide 15 characteristics as follows:

1. Amiable character. One's talent can maneuver to win an election but only an amiable character is able to withstand thereafter. 

2. Adaptable to people and acceptable to the constituency. 

3. Purpose driven. Lead with a highest possible purpose to serve and develop a culture around constituents similar to a football game, where the score takes care of itself. 

4. Hold authority with responsibility and accountability.

5. Listen to understand. Listen to the hearts of the people to empathize their request.

6. Unifying factor within the diverse ethnicities inculcating the pillars of Rukun Negara. 

7. Setting own expectations of good governance.  

8. Staying ahead whilst undertaking the preparations needed to serve its people. 

9. Hold well under pressure.

10. Be authentic. A leader that will match the personality with the level of service delivery. 

11. Sacrifice for the nation. Must be a social conscious soul to put interest of the nation above self.

12. Build the language of competency. Performance is all about character, capability and competency. The extent of its possession, will determine the confidence in earning credibility from people.  

13. Ritualize to actualize. Able to create a culture of being inclusive rather than pitting against each other to actualize a truly Malaysian spirit of unity within the aspiration of our Rukun Negara. 

14. Be a good ancestor. Leaders must have an attitude to plant trees that they will never see. 

15. Write your own legacy. Through authentic service, people must readily remember the personality for what they stood and believed whilst serving. When service is done towards the growth of a generation, the election is a given win, thus writing one's legacy deeply imprinted in the hearts and minds of the people. 

In crux, like Vince Lombardi once said, only by knowing yourself, can you become an effective leader. Hence, always elect based on the personality and not by the party they represent.

As Malaysian, start to critically ask these two questions:

1. What is my duty as a Malaysian?

2. What is it that needs doing, that I know something about, that probably won't happen unless I take responsibility for it and act?

Therefore, it is our paramount duty to vote for a strong, reliable and credible government that will lead us to uphold the aspirations and pillars of our Rukun Negara. Start by ensuring in being a registered and eligible voter with an updated residential address. Cast your vote to choose the personalities for the 222 parliamentarians and 505 state assembly vacancies. Ask yourself, who will fit the above characteristics to represent me in governing the government of the day? I am sure, if the personality is chosen wisely, we will have a strong government with personalities that will decide amongst themselves who they choose in return to lead the country as the Prime Minister in serving and not politicizing this nation. 

As a human resource practitioner without any political aspirations, I can vehemently reiterate that we need to treat our elected representatives as personalities seeking for a job to represent us. To be a selected candidate, we need to have stringent selection criteria as suggested above before the candidate becomes our elected representative, worthy to earn our vote of confidence via the ballot paper. It is our collective duty to determine and decide the standards of performance that these personalities ensure in their promise to deliver. Do not accept any forms of manifestos due to the past dismal performance. Once elected, that personality will have the stewardship, ready to enhance efficient and effective governance. It must be a rewarding symbiotic five years journey between the personality and the constituency they serve.

Ultimately, this journey will adopt a new dimension for governance, where;

a. The people become the rightful employer for the representative to serve the "rakyat" based on the prescribed standards of performance.

b. Due to the scale of task and size of constituency, the five years will be deemed as the probationary period for the representative. If the standards of performance set by the people are achieved, then the representative earns as a confirmation to stand for the next election.

So, remember for everything else to fall in its place #VotePersonalityNotParty. 

(Asohan Satkunasingham is an Award-Winning Author, Progressive Human Resource Practitioner and High Impact Corporate Teacher.)