Tomorrow is an election day here in Indonesia and it makes me a bit wondering about how does the “election” represented in Kanji. Upon dictionary search in tangorin.com, there are actually several ways to write this word in Kanji. However, according to my Oxford dictionary, this is how you write “election” in Kanji proper.

The first kanji of this compound means “elect” as in “to elect,” and the second kanji of this compound could be taken to mean “raise” as in “to raise.” Combining these two verbs, it’s only intuitive to came up with a noun “election” because as we know it, the “election” is involving the process “to elect” and in the end of the day, this process would “raise” some individuals to a new prestigious level.

The first kanji (“to elect”) of this compound if dissected, would give you (two) “snakes”, “strung together”, and “road.” The symbol of “road” (the one in the bottom most of this symbol spanned left to right) is a no-brainer as it appears quite often to be ignored. “Snake” is the symbol that looks like a number “2″ and it’s easy to imagine this symbol as such. There are two of them here side-by-side so there are two “snakes” in this symbol. The last one is the “strung together” symbol. I usually imagined this symbol as a weaved ribbon that were strung together. Now, what does it has to do with “to elect”? This is how I see it, I’ve always had an impression that general election is more often than not, usually only to choose the lesser of two evils. Thus, when election day comes, me, as a one eligible to vote, has to hitch the “road” only to pick the lesser of two evils (“two snakes strung together”). But still, rather than sit and doing nothing, but whines the loudest at the end of the day, in my opinion, it’s still better to go out there and vote. As usual, it’s a bit stretching.

The most recognizable symbol for the second kanji (“raise”) of this compound is perhaps the bottom most symbol. It’s a symbol for “hand.” On top of it, the familiar three strokes in the top-most position represents “claw” or if positioned as such, it creates a “schoolhouse” (as it also appears in the kanji for “school”) or a symbol of “learning.” Next, is the horizontal stroke right below these three strokes and a couple of downward strokes right beneath it that represents “tool.” Ergo, combining these three symbols, “hand”, “learning”, and “tool” I’d came up with a story of a human. Consistently learning to utilize tools with his hands in order to “raise” his rank in the social order of humanity.

Anyway, if you’re Indonesian and eligible to vote, please use your right to vote tomorrow and please, I beg you, do not cast your vote to Ms.Megawati’s party. Please, don’t vote no.28