I think that we have come some way towards change in governance and democracy in our country as the new year begins.

I am thankful that we, the rakyat, are challenging our environment and making independent assessments of the performance (or lack of it) of our politicians. A growing free press, even if it is limited to the Internet, is one of the best things to happen to us.

I still hear a sizable chunk of the middle class who have lived a good life supporting the "outgoing" Umno controlled Barisan Nasional government, extolling the virtues of "what we have now" over perceived chaos of the opposition (with or without DAP) or rule of the rakyat (depending on whom we might want as our political administrators). For these nostalgic lot and those who are timid about embracing the future without BN, what we have now should not be confused with good governance.

What we have now are repressive laws to bring us to heel, to deprive us of the right to think, assemble and speak our minds. We have bogeys on race that will keep us in our separate hovels. We have nothing really except a mirage of democracy.