I write in response to Pak Pandir Baru's Street protesters should wait. The question brought up in his letter was about the rationality, what more the legitimacy, of common people protesting or demonstrating in the streets. It is disturbing to note his comments more or less championed the ingrained belief of so called "Malaysian values" so widely used by the ruling elite to blanket the right to dissent.

In the nature of his comments, we have seen the ultimate product of Mahathirism, or the shared perspective most Malaysians have on socio-political awareness which mainly espouses the need for blinding conformity in the name of 'muafakat'.

We all know, too, that the government will not backpedal to reset oil prices to suit these protesters. But the rationality behind the street protests cannot be measured based on whether it will directly coerce the government to change oil prices. Rather, it is a form of expression, which sadly, was given no space at all in our mainstream press. Where is conscientisation going to come from if there is no effort to generate it in the first place?

How then would there be a "vent for frustration" in the next polls if, again, the mainstream press is used all too effectively to blackout a potentially stronger opposition. What Pak Pandir Baru hopes for is stagnation for there is no effort in taking a hard look at the worsening situation, the "Asian-ultras" or the ineffectiveness of silence.

Conscience it is not a God given gift; it is created, shaped, and limited by existing structures in our society.