I read Wan Sou Hai's letter, ' Rakyat must share blame for the government we have ', with great interest. Allow me to contribute a few remarks and observations.

The ruling elite in Malaysia as represented by Umno and BN is not only corrupt but also

shameless. It is profligate, pompous and vainglorious, and highly unproductive and uncompetitive in the global market of goods, services and ideas.

But what can the ordinary people do even if they know the truth? The highly politicised police is here to violate the basic human rights of free associations of the opposition parties and NGOs. Vocal opposition leaders like Lim Kit Siang, Tian Chua, Mohd Ezam and others were detained without trial under the Internal Security Act.

The most critical question is, however, the people's minds are blocked or manipulated by the media monopoly of Umno and MCA. The ugly facts and realities such as that narrated by Dr Munawar Anees in his shocking affidavit are blacked out. Before the emergence of Internet, reformasi websites and malaysiakini , ordinary Malaysians simply had no means of knowing these criminal and even psychopathic brutalities committed by the police.

Before 1998 and the emergence of Internet, all Malaysians knew about politics were what the ruling elite and ruling parties wanted them to know. Over time, the collective minds of Malaysians have been distorted and corrupted by the logic and lines of reasoning that serve the interests of the shameless elite, and their even more shameful minions in the official media.