In response to Kevin Gan who wrote [#1]Can People Power happen here?[/#] (Jan 30), I just want to say... hold on there, dude! Cool down on that fiery speech. I understand your frustration and probably so do many silent ones out there. I agree that Malaysia needs to change but the question is, into what?

Will the new Philippines president be able to perform? What is her vision in bringing the country together? Who is her team to manage the country? Does she have the credentials to lead her country?

Running a country is like running a huge corporation. To do both requires experience.

I don't see people come looking for me to run Malaysia Airlines. Why? Because I have never led a couple thousand of employees and I don't know the airline business.

Do you think the new Philippines president has what it takes to run the country?

Anyway, can Malaysians accept this kind of change, i.e. freedom of speech or rule by opposition (such as Keadilan or PAS)?

If Keadilan comes into power, the country will be more Islamic, Chinese schools will have to go, we won't be able to eat pork, there will be no more Chinese movies or dramas on TV, and thus begins a slow process of the Islamisation of Malaysia. Would the Bumiputra rights be removed? Probably never. But still, the country will be open to foreign investors (at favourable terms). My question is: at whose price?

Freedom of speech means that I can say something racial to anyone and you can't do anything about it. Can Malaysian accept that? Can we accept other races form hate groups, marching down the streets, covered in hoods and yelling racial slurs? Do Malaysians have the mental maturity to accept this kind of behaviour?

The United States is regarded as the bastion of democracy, but does the democracy it practises have no flaws? It does have flaws, but the country has been continually fixing them for about 250 years and the people have the mental maturity to understand the whole process of democracy.

Is there no corruption in the US? What about the Los Angeles Rampart Police Division scandal? Is there no racial bias? Look at the Rodney King riots (I was there).

Do they have a perfect judicial system? Do you know how many criminals escape spending time in jail through the plea bargaining process? Look at the OJ Simpson fiasco (I was there).

I can say this is because I have lived in the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton eras and I can say I have lived in the best of both worlds (Malaysia and the US).

I am not a fan of the prime minister but we must give him due respect for what he has done for the country. How many people have reaped the harvest during his time in the stock market, business and a whole lot of other areas. The people who are criticising him were once his chorus line singers. Do you think they will be better rulers of the country when the time comes?

Anyway, when you start a company, you are injected with enthusiasm and objectivity. Following exponential growth, the time has come to bring in or let professionals run your huge company (you know you can't run such huge operations) but you can't let go.

You encounter the founder crises. You fall in love with the company and emotions take over. How can you let these thirtysomething guys run your business? How can you trust them after you have invested so much of your hard work in it?

Because you are unable to accept change, your business becomes stagnant. Eventually it declines and becomes history. This is what's happening to our prime minister. Anyone who has run a huge corporate business and has put in his/her sweat into the company knows, that it is very, very difficult to let go.

Look at Taiwan and Indonesia, with their new CEOs in charge. Both make good case studies on a leader's skills. They are a clear example of taking the risk of change. Are they better off with their new leaders?

Finally, I ask everyone: Can we Malaysians pay the price for this humongous change?