UndiMsia! with their infographics that teaches you on how to reach out to your local authorities

By Christine Cheah
WHAT qualifications does my Member of Parliament have? Where did he/she work before? Who is my state assemblyperson (Adun)?

If those are some of the questions you have, UndiMsia! has the answers for you.

#MyMP is a project started by UndiMsia! in collaboration with the Sinar Project, and it aims to compile profiles on all the current MPs in Malaysia, including information like their previous work experience, educational background and political history.

In very much the same way an employer would read through a job applicant’s resume before hiring him/her, the #MyMP project believes the public should know more about their MPs history and background before heading to the ballots.

“What we aim to do is provide the necessary information to help young people decide for themselves, instead of just voting for whoever their parents vote for,” said Lim Ka Ea, an UndiMsia! “community mover”.

“The project has been moving on quite well. We’ve more or less completed the profiles for MPs in Peninsula Malaysia, but we’re having some difficulty getting in touch with MPs in Sabah and Sarawak because many of them are based in rural areas,” she added.

But completing the profiles is just the first phase of #MyMP. Next up in their game plan is getting all the MPs to answer five questions related to key issues in Malaysia.

“In this case, the people would be able to see the stance that their own MP has on a particular issue,” said Lim.

Since it’s a social initiative, the last phase would be to start a forum on the UndiMsia! website where young people can express their opinions on matters relating to their MPs, and the MPs themselves can also respond via an “e-ticketing” system.

And if you’re not sure what the differences are between the roles of an MP, Adun and your local councillor, head on to undimsia.com, where they have some pretty helpful infographics that should help make you sound more clued in when the elections come around.

Their latest infographic, called “Longkang Jam”, uses the example of a clogged drain in your neighbourhood to explain the different roles of an MP, Adun and local councillor in helping you fix that drain.

But aside from educating young voters, UndiMsia! also hopes to gather their opinions as well, through another initiative called Laporan Rakyat (People’s Report). If you check out their website, you will find a scorecard which will allow you to rate your MP and Adun.

“The objective is to get the people’s message across to the authorities, letting them know what we think of them. We will eventually publish the report for public viewing,” said Lim.