I have never had much use for any 'alternative' media which are nothing more than outlets for opponents of our government to vent their spleen. I suspect I am not alone in this.

Uncle Yap's letter yesterday therefore comes as such a breath of fresh air that I wonder why malaysiakini has so far not attracted more writers of his calibre.

Our dispute with Singapore is indeed vexing for all of us who worry about such unnecessary distractions when our region is confronted with severe challenges and I am glad that he seems to confirm my hunch that an equal if not greater portion of the fault lies with Singapore.

Like many thinking Malaysians, I regularly turn to The Straits Times which often offers first-rate analyses of happenings in our own country. Alas, when it comes to Singapore-Malaysia issues, the paper is no help at all for its muddled thinking.

One can only draw one conclusion from this: that contrary to its usual high-minded protestations of sobriety and rationality, Singapore is none of these when dealing with Malaysia.

We may be condemned to being forever slightly irrational in our dealings with each other but Singapore definitely cannot hope to gain any points in Malaysia by its adamant refusal to recognise it has its fair share of the common problem.

The way our bilateral relations are usually framed out of Singapore, it would appear as if our neighbour could well crumble under its own weight if it so much as conceded even an ounce of honesty in facing the realities of the relationship.

Singapore has tried hard in recent years to 'ease up' with its own people. I fully support our own government's robust stand in its dealings with Singapore for as long as Singapore refuses to countenance a similar easing-up in official relations with us.