I refer to Norman Fernandez's letter Nation's secularism being undermined and am of the opinion that the letter reflects the actual situation in our country's government now.

More and more graduates return from West Asian universities and the madrasahs of Pakistan and join the local graduates in government service where they ascend to positions of authority. They have become 'little Napoleons' as can be evidenced by some department heads.

Examples like Takaful Nasional Fauzi Mustafar's recent e-mail are many. One case that I can think of off-hand is the Petaling Jaya City Council requirement requiring houseowners to ask their Muslim neighbours if they wish to rear dogs.

There were also calls by fanatics in power to call off joint celebrations of festive seasons like Deeparaya and Kongsiraya, claiming these were in contradiction to Islam.

It is alarming that more and more fanatics are now in positions of authority in government service. Some may be lying low. It is even more worrying to note that to completely change our constitution to an Islamic requires only a two-thirds majority in parliament.

It is therefore already theoretically possible for us to become a full-fledged Islamic State, a la Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. With the strength of the fanatics continually growing in political parties (even in Umno), if by 2020 we do not achieve a 'developed' status, we may most likely achieve a full Islamic state status.