I refer to the Malaysiakini article ' No more rhetoric' .

I suppose that I would want to start with defending myself from accusations that my 15 years of a Malaysian education is for naught, given my further education overseas. But I shan't - as the one who points that out is obviously much older and more experienced in Malaysian life than I am.

Indeed, reading of your plight during the financial crisis of 97'-98' has somehow turned this 'rhetoric' of ours into a more humane and significant discussion - hence, I too shall follow suit.

Though we come from different generations of Malaysian life and from different places in our lives, I feel that we share something in common - a concern about the future of our country. You have touched briefly on concerns on the future for your family and friends - my concerns lie somewhere in the same realm too.

I am at a place in my life where I am privileged enough to make a decision - shall I invest my future in Malaysia, or elsewhere? Believe me, it is an excruciating and mind-boggling choice. On one hand, there's so much instability, discrimination, unpleasantness and backwardness that I can pin-point in a life for me and my future family in Malaysia.

Yet at the same time, I know I'll love Malaysia with all my heart, for the rest of my life and certainly to my death. ' Tanah tumpahnya darahku '. I am loyal to my country to the death. And like you, I want to act, and call for others to act, in ways that can, in any small way, help Malaysia be a better Malaysia.

I reckon that one of the issues with economic instability that you have pinpointed can be dealt with (significantly, though not entirely) through a change of economic emphases that our political parties currently fight for. My previous letter touched on one - Labourist-based economic principles which are, in a nutshell, the championing and pursuit of the protection of rights of every single worker in the country.

Such protection would ensure (with limitations, of course) adequate minimum wages (which are currently inadequate), decent and humane working conditions, and job security. These are things that, even in the face of an economic recession, would contribute to higher standards of living, and thus more satisfying, comfortable and humane lifestyles.

The way that I see it, the single big obstacle that prevents Malaysia towards moving towards such economic strategies are our divide and rule policies. If our ruling party (Barisan Nasional), which is defined as a coalition of parties that each fight for the rights of individual races, somehow persists then this transition (which is inevitable, based on observations of other democracies around the world) becomes delayed, because people will continue to squabble over the rights of the colour of their own skin, and not for the larger Malaysian race.

I suppose that in a nutshell, I am always for the ideals of a democracy - where everyone's dignity and rights are protected as best as they can be. The New Economic Policy and BN cannot ever fully deliver this.

And this is not because they don't want to, but because their principles are fundamentally flawed to favour division and rule based on the colour of our skins - while the true ideals of a democracy should bring us closer together by fighting for the protection of our human dignity, which is what we share.

And while I harp on BN's outdated qualities, I shall answer your question from two letters ago - do I think that PKR's takeover of the government will liberate the nation? I don't know.

That answer might seem as a cop-out, but I speak the truth - I honestly have no idea. Whether I favour it or not though, depends on how I can resolve the ethical dilemma that defines it. On one hand, the people have selected BN to rule the country for the next four years, and it is clear that in the name of democracy, that(as a factor) cannot be denied.

Yet at the same time, should BN persist, they will control and dictate the media and the future of the leader of the opposition (through charges of sodomy, which I frankly find irrelevant and downright homophobic, other than somewhat ridiculous too!) and continue their unethical and unjust arrests of anyone who supports the opposition, which are against the principles of an ideal democracy which BN claims to espouse.

In many ways, both scenarios suck. But while favouring the mandate the government has received from the people in the last elections, it is worth considering whether (a) people would still vote for BN fearlessly if elections were held this Saturday, and (b) that in the larger scheme of things, say 50 years from now, will people look back and think "Damn it - those PKR people made a serious blunder!" or "Thank God PKR did something back then - otherwise, we'd be stuck with the same rotten politics that dictated our lives before then!".

The benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing - we don't have it in this case. But based on philosophical principles alone, I would vote for the protection of the ideals of democracy (DAP), equal dignity and justice (Keadilan) and yes, even Islamic values (which though I do not personally subsribe to, I deem as just and fair as long as they treat non-Muslims in a fair way), over policies that call for the protection of individual races (racism) any day of the week.

And you know, allowing the current opposition to rule the government for one term can be a good thing in many ways. In terms of equality and justice, many advancements can be made because of more significant emphases towards restoring the ideals of democracy (separation of powers, restoration of free speech, promoting rational and free dialogue as a form of conflict resolution rather than practicing ignorance).

And for the BN, it will allow them to re-evaluate and re-invent themselves to show Malaysia the next time around that they are indeed still relevant in modern Malaysian life (if at all possible).

People like Dr Mahathir are quick to dismiss the current opposition as incapabable of leading the nation adequately or well-enough to the point of 'destoying Malaysia' or 'running the country to the ground' - where do such assumptions come from?

Truly I say to you, that it cannot possibly be based on hindsight, for it is unprecedented in Malaysian history. Yet, if we look at democracies around the world, you find that a little change and a strong opposition often make the political scene more stable and not less stable.

The reason is because of the principle that is the pillar of democracy - check and balance. When the ruling party has the mandate to rule with the post-script "Do a good job, or you're not going to be here next time around", the pressure to govern excellently not only increases, but in the larger scheme of things people 's dignities get protected.

With our ruling government literally disabling the opportunities and means for people to complain against it, this 'check and balance' element has faded away, to the point where dissenting voices against anything the government says or does get locked up or put down.

To illustrate, it appears that as I type, the ISA has once again been employed unjustly against individuals who write or fight against the ruling government on certain matters, which is their right (not based merely on our constitution or laws, but on human rights values), when a police investigation and a trial in court (where one can face their accuser and defend themselves) could occur instead.

Clearly, a more humane option becomes lost when the threat of losing political power becomes more apparent to our ruling government.

If Anwar Ibrahim is fighting for equal dignities amongst all Malaysias and the restoration of the ideals of democracy, then I would be pretty damn stupid to not support him, given that our ruling government (BN) does not and cannot promise the same, and that my personal values are very much for the ideals of democracy and the establishment of the Malaysian race.

Should Anwar change his mandate or philosophy to one that goes against the principles of a true democracy, then it would be equally stupid to continue supporting him.

I state this to emphasise that what I support is not Anwar himself, but what he stands and fights for - something the BN folk have overlooked, based on their character-assasination strategy that they employed unsucessfully in the Permatang Pauh by-election.

It is things like this that convince me furthur that BN have simply lost the plot - they no longer appear to fight for democracy, but rather to just stay in power. And as the saying goes: "It is not power that corrupts, but the fear of losing that power that corrupts".

"We don't need democracy, what we need is a government and also groups that will look after the needs of the people". I disagree with you on this point, not because I cannot see the value in race-based politics, but because I fight for the ideals of a democracy instead - where everyone is represented as best as can be.

I believe that democracy, in its truest and uncorrupted form is really the answer to discrimination, unfair treatment, totalitarianism and social/economic stagnation. I believe that Malaysia, given action be taken in the very near future, is not lost to the point that it cannot embrace democracy correctly.

Democracy, when practiced correctly, works - there are countless examples all over the world and throughout history that illustrate this, yet somehow you feel that it cannot be applied successfully in Malaysia? Give it a chance! If September 16 is one of the things that must occur for this to happen, then I say 'so be it'.

But you are right - I am an idealist. But I also think it would be a mistake to equate me being an idealist as being naive, for being an idealist grants me some measure of insight that the realist overlooks.

And the main one that I shall end with here is this - Malaysia claims to be a democracy, yet it is not one in practice for it has abandoned many of the principles that are the pillars of democracy - the locking up of dissenting voices without trial, suppression of the freedom of speech, and divide and rule strategies are all steps away from democracy.

In Anwar, we have a man who promises to essentially restore these principles. My support for this process makes my father and any other rational being on the planet proud, because I fight not for selfish gains, but for a modern Malaysia, where we will be able to live more humane and justified lives.

Life is not, nor will it ever be, a 'bed or roses', but life's dignities and rights can be protected to a very large extent through a real democracy.

Those that speak the truth are often labeled as being an 'idealist' - I do not mind that label so long as I'm allowed to speak it. And it is always the 'idealists' who seem to be getting locked up by the ISA - those that are most vocal and persistent on spreading a 'truth'.

And while I hardly think I am in the same ball park as RPK and the many others who have faced the wrath of the ISA, my tiny voice, or 'rhetoric', and those of the 'idealists' AKA 'dissenters' AKA 'opposition' AKA 'threats to national security (though really just a threat to the ruling government)' shall continue till a true democracy in Malaysia is restored.