I agree with the letter 'Malaysian elite a castrated lot' (May 15) and would even say your letters pages have become a 'chatter room' mainly for the elite. Those who have raised questions about the government's abuse of basic human rights, the prostitution of what should have been the key institutions of a democratic society, the corruption of corporate and public life have almost never received anything amounting to replies, and they cannot go on asking the same questions.

Their space has been taken by a deluge of letters putting forth various shades of opinions on numerous issues, many trivial and the merits of which seem entirely to be in the intellectual exercise involved. The effect, probably intended, in PR parlance, has been to divert and dissipate criticisms that earlier had focus. Anything can be discussed to death.

Few have noticed that, in addition, several self-styled regular critics of the government, Umno, the judiciary, the police, etc., are working assiduously through their letters and columns on distancing from the criticisms Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the principal guilty party in Malaysia Misincorporated.

And while the chattering class is thus kept busy on the letters pages of malaysiakini and increasingly the mainstream media, the powers-that-be are able to achieve certain key objectives with a minimum of flak, like bailing out cronies with billions in public funds (see how quickly the criticism have been drowned out?), developing legislation to further control freedom of expression and incapacitating a burgeoning opposition through arrests and violence.

All this would have been a tragedy, if malaysiakini was about to change Malaysia. That was not going to happen, anyway.

Good morning Malaysia. Wake up.