KEY POINTS:
A reader wrote to me last week seeking my thoughts on the local body elections.
"Why do so many immigrants not exercise their rights of freedom in a democracy when back home they fight so hard for the right to vote?" she asked.
She continued: "Look at how they're fighting for democracy in Myanmar right now and how involved the people of Taiwan are in their elections. Why do immigrants become so apathetic when they move to a country where they can vote freely?"
Less than 40 per cent of New Zealanders voted in the recent elections, and I tend to agree with the writer's suggestion that if we broke the statistics down into ethnicities, chances are you would find an even lesser number of immigrants bothered returning their voting papers.
I know I didn't. But I don't think apathy was my reason for not voting.
Three weeks ago, while we were in the thick of election campaigning, I was at a dinner function where I was seated at the same table as George Wood, then still the Mayor of North Shore City, where I live.
I was keen to hear from him on what he would do if he was returned as mayor. But he was more concerned about whether the picture of him wearing a baseball cap on his election billboards would get the people voting for him.
Like Mr Wood, I am sure many local politicians were banking on how good they looked on their billboards and in campaign material to win them votes, rather than the substance of their goals.
With New Zealand communities doing relatively well and with no truly significant issue, it really didn't matter to me whether Wood, Wind or Fire became mayor.
Rates rise? I am renting in Auckland. I own a house in Christchurch, but I can't vote there. Water rates rise? The landlord is paying.
One might argue that Auckland City had Eden Park and North Shore the Whenuapai airfield as the issues of the day. But it pales in comparison with what the people are facing in Myanmar and Taiwan.
The local body election is also not the national election.
At this time last year, I was in Taiwan to witness firsthand how active almost all Taiwanese were in politics there. But that is because they know the very existence of their island nation is on thin ice.
Should big brother the People's Republic of China decide to flex its muscle, Taiwan as a country could be gone by lunchtime.
In Myanmar monks, revered by many, are being murdered and people who opposed the Government are being locked up. The people are fighting to end the country's military repression and are hoping democracy could lead the way to ending the political powers of their military rulers.
If New Zealand was facing a threat of losing our independence (God forbid) to Australia, or if Helen Clark decided to join al Qaeda and started locking up members of the opposition, you can be sure that I'd be doing more than just returning my voting papers.
I was full of enthusiasm when I first got my right to vote at the Singapore general election in 1991.
I braved the big boisterous crowds to attend rallies held by the opposition parties and tried to keep up with what the ruling party was saying through the local newspapers.
On election day, I was in two minds about voting because while I did not agree with some of the policies of the ruling PAP, I wasn't prepared to give my vote to opposition candidates whom I had not seen or heard of until the elections.
But not to vote is not an option. Singapore's brand of democracy did not include the freedom to not vote. Don't turn up and you face reprisals including stiff penalties and having your voting rights removed.
Whether there's any truth to this or not, there is also an element of fear in some Singaporeans. An Aunt warned that if I did not vote, the Government could make it difficult for me to get a job or career advancements.
Myanmar democracy advocate, Aung San Suu Kyi has said the only real prison is fear and the only real freedom is freedom from fear. I am glad to be living in a society where fear is not a factor in its politics.
Now, back to what the reader who wrote to me said - that by not voting in the local body elections, we are not exercising our rights of freedom in a democracy. I would argue that it is quite the contrary.
A real democracy should allow an individual the right to do nothing if he or she chooses to, including the freedom to not vote. By not returning my voting papers, I was exercising that democratic right.
