I would like to thank Sheryll Stothard for her recount of Hishamuddin Rais' life stories because it is a piece of history which would make our children understand what 'freedom' actually means. Hisham's stories would never make it into our Form Five history books, neither would the reform movement and Anwar's stories, but these stories would be preserved by the many reformasi writers around.

A leopard never loses its spots. Anwar Ibrahim, despite his previous rise to the second-highest post in government, has finally come full circle and returned to his idealistic youth. Hishamuddin Rais, despite leaving Malaysia more than 20 years ago to preserve his personal 'freedom', has finally succumbed to the need to join the reform movement which would ultimately curtail his personal 'freedom' nonetheless.

Anwar has always maintained that he was just biding his time before he would make that move for reform in Malaysia - I presume when he becomes prime minister.

Anyway, those who claimed that he was as corrupt as the rest of the rotten fish in Umno have never been able to come up with a single proof against him; what more Dr Mahathir Mohamad's government with all the might of its political apparatuses to comb for evidence. This leads me to believe that such allegations are totally untrue. I believe these two men have never really forgotten their ideals, defending the poor and asking for more 'freedom'.

I believe history will judge these men well, once actual reform takes place in Malaysia, under the administration of the successors to Mahathir, either in Umno or in Barisan Alternatif.