With reference to MGG Pillai's article, [#1]A storm in a teacup[/#] (Jan 30), if the ruckus created by the Singapore premier's remark is creating a storm in a teacup, I say bring on the storms.

With our press and government less than transparent and an increasingly undemocratic political system, there is a need for more checks and balances in our system and it is better to get it at least from a neighbour who understands the goings-on in Malaysia.

While Goh Chok Tong's remark was not very sensitive, it is at least the truth with facts and figures to back it up, unlike Utusan Malaysia and some politicians' penchant for rhetoric and generalisations rather than real arguments.

We already have enough people who hide in the sand. We actually have many supposedly college graduates saying meritocracy is not suitable for Malays, thereby condemning a race to a life of illusions. Comparing ourselves to Singapore at least puts meritocracy as an undeniable fact of inevitability. Are we so twisted that we can accept communist principles of isolation and illusions?

So please, Goh, be brave and let fly. Let each person on both sides of the causeway judge your words and opinions. Political correctness has already been taken too far in Malaysia as well as in Singapore. We need more openness, not hiding our heads in the sand. We could choke to death on our own brand of sensitiveness.