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I was just getting out from my front door, when I saw my mother's car driving in. Now, you may have the most important appointment, but when your mother comes unannounced, you must pretend that the appointment is not important after all, because what can be more important than a 98 year old mother? After all, when you have lived from the very beginning of this century to the last year of that same century, you are the most very important person. And this time she came for something very, very important: the general election.
Once she got out of the car, she waved vehemently with a poster to me, which turned out to be the poster with the logos of the 48 parties.
"Look", she said triumphantly, "they are now sold by the street vendors, the pictures of the parties! Not expenxive at all, only one thousand rupiahs!"
Only one thousand? Yesterday a boy offered it to me for four thousands, oh, oh my mother must have been bargaining again! I was quite right, mother confessed to me that she had bargained down from 4000 to 1000 rupiahs.
"But what do you want it for?" I asked, "do you intend to decorate your house with these pictures?"
No, she bought it so she could have a close look at all the symbols and to make her choice.
"I want to be prepared for the election," she said resolutely. We always had three parties only, so it was not difficult for me, but now with 48 of them we must make a proper choice. After all, this may be my last election, so I must make my last good choice. I will choose a party that will make an end to the monetary crisis, the violence, the corruption or what they call the KKN. So I come to consult you about what party could fulfill my ideals!"
"Mother!" I exclaimed, "I admire you, that you at your age still show interested in the right to vote and do it conscientiously. You have never been to school, you learned to read and write from a tutor at home, but at this moment you beat all the women in the world. You should have joined the sufragists when you were young!"
"Rubbish," she said, if I had joined the sufragists you and all your sisters would not have been born. Which man wanted to marry women who were coming up for their rights at that time? None, they only wanted wives who could cook and sew and would stay at home to care for the children. However it is thanks to the sufragists that we women are now allowed to vote too. In all, I voted at all the seven elections, I have never missed a single one! But now back to my question, which party is the best according to you?"
I had to confess that I had not made up my mind yet. And besides, she had to make her own choice and not depend on me. And that was exactly what she came for, to show me that she did not want me to tell her what to vote, she only wanted some information about the parties. Her biggest concern she told me was Medicare for the elderly. Is there a party that would ensure that the elderly get social welfare and health insurance? I couldn't answer and many other questions followed which I couldn't answer either.
She then asked me her last question: "You are not leaving, do you? I mean like those people who are joining the exodus during the election?"
I assured her that I did not and she packed up her poster and prepared to leave, while telling me that I have told her at least one good news.
A few days later I met my sister, who told me that she had good news and bad news. " The bad one is that mother was disappointed of her daughters including you. She had said that we are all getting old. The good news is that she now knows what to vote. For that she had to rely on the younger generation. Well, Panji her favorite grandson seemed to have joined a political party and that was enough for her to make her decision. She is now convinced that his party is the best and she will vote for his party, escpecially because he told her, that if they win, he will make sure that her proposal for medicare for the elderly will be taken care off. And what is more, she now makes her round again to convince everybody in the family that his party is the only one to vote for."
And I thought that she wanted to have an election that is just and fair!
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