Election Day in many Asian neighbourhoods means nothing more than Asian men walking around in large groups. I spot this every year and it still astounds me how things have changed very little since the eighties.

I know a lot was made of how local politics was is still a very 'male thing' within the Asian community. It is not hard to see why though.

I was at a political event recently and one speaker spoke about equality and how important it was for more women to get involved in local politics. I looked around and the hall was full mostly of middle-aged men.

It seemed pretty smart calling for more equality when your own wives were sat at home?

The build-up to polling day means sizeable groups of Asian men walking around in numbers with an air of self-congratulation, as if their mere presence on the streets is a revolutionary cause for mankind.

This means Facebook timelines are naturally clogged up with photos of said groups earnestly posing, trying to create some semblance of superiority with the cursory posts urging you all to cast your vote. Why aren't the Asian women doing the same?

It is these same candidates and their cronies who vociferously argue for diversity and equality, reiterating these words with a faux but vocal passion. So if equality etc means so much to them, where are their wives?

Why aren't they canvassing with them? Why aren't the Asian women seen on the streets with their respective posters proudly donning their badges?

Why aren't they going door-to-door speaking to the locals about the politics?

I opened the door to one canvasser last year and he immediately called for my dad. Even talking to me was beneath him!

That's because the Asian men who are littering the streets with their political allegiance and hypocritical rhetoric expect their wives to stay home and prepare the haandi rotee (curry and chapatti's).

And out of the goodness of their hearts, their women are permitted to use the postal vote system- in a token gesture of modernity.

If you preach equality, then show us in your actions.

You can see why I dread election day so much and can't wait until it is over.

By Nazia Latif.