new I am furious with our government over its handling of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) scare. I don't understand why the Home Ministry wants to downplay news of Sars cases here.

The rakyat have the right to get news about this deadly disease. We need to know so that we can avoid going to places where the virus thrives. We want to know how it came here, the precautions to take, etc.

The more the government covers up the story, the higher the possibility of infections due to people being kept unaware and uneducated about the disease.

I can't imagine that a democratic country like Malaysia will do such a thing - i.e. ignore the health of the people for the self-serving interests of the powers that be - yet it is happening today.

Is this how a democratic country functions? The government is actually aping the communist government of China in controlling the media, at the cost of Malaysian lives.

Sometimes I wish I could ask Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad a question: Are we heading toward democracy - or communism?