In Kelantan, it has had a tough ride. PAS won the first general election in 1959 and lost it in 1978, when UMNO forced it down in demonstrations. PAS won it again in 1990 and has held it since. The National Front issues threats it would not honour if it is in PAS's position, in the states or in parliament, and it promises what it will not honour once the election or byelection is over. It made promises galore in the recent byelection in Pengkalen Pasir, which it won, but it has ignored the promises made in the other constitutuencies in Kelantan it won in the general election last year. But it believes it can do this because people have short memories, it demonises the other political parties, which it publicises in the newspapers it control, in reality all the mainstream newspapers, and therefore the whole country. People are sheep at the best of times, and lap it up, often blamining the Opposition for not rebutting the National Front's political moves. But the Opposition is not allowed to own its own newspapers. Many have tried, but the government view is that what is not in the National Front's interests is not allowed. The Opposition parties are allowed their organs which they can sell only to their members. And so most Malaysians have not seen or heard of them.

It was not. The Opposition was not interested; PAS had not objection, and the DAP was not interested. So it was left to 19 BN women senators to oppose it. That they opposed meant that the National Front lost even when the bill was passed. It had not expected the Opposition so late in the day. The National Front had long introduced laws in both Houses of Parliament without discussing it with those affected. It had a two-thirds majority in each of both houses, and it could have its way. So, why bother to get the views of those who did not vote. After all, when elections are held, the voters would forget its high handedness in parliament and the state assemblies, and would rush to vote them in with a huge majority. But the people of Kelantan has seen though that the National Front has had a tough time being elected. It promises what the people want if they would vote for it, as happened in an irrelevant byelection in Pengkalen Pasir. It insisted PAS had to resign if it won the seat. It did not have to, and it would not. But the National Front went to town demanding that it do. Ordinary Malaysians, usually not in Kelantan, thought they should, because the National Front's view took hold through the news media. One need not add that the National Front controls the media in this country.

THE MINISTER IN CHARGE OF PARLIAMENT, otherwise known as minister in the Prime Minister's Department. has made it clear that the Senate is not for discussion and eventually vote on contentious bills. He has warned the National Front women senators that they must vote against their conscience and for their own degradation. It does not matter what they personally thought. The chairman of the Senate, in most countries elected but in Malaysia a sinecure for elderly National Front members, did not object. Those who did oppose it, and saw Dato' Seri Naziz Aziz, were told bluntly there would be no discussion or debate. It is final: the women will be second class citizens in their country. The non-Islamic members of the National Front did not object to this proposal, which UMNO had thought up to become more Islamic than the Opposition PAS, and presumably agreed to it. Even the cabinet minister for women's affairs, a woman, had agreed to her downgrading. She values her position in the cabinet more than her sex. Women could be downgraded, in the name of Islam, if the National Front could steal a march over Parti Sa Islam or PAS. But this is only one of several laws passed which makes the non-Muslim and women second class citizens. A former climber of Mount Evert, an Indian, who was reduced to a cripple in a wheelchair after another accident, has died, and the Selangor Religious Affairs Department has insisted he be buried as a Muslim. His family says he was a Hindu, and should be buried as a Hindu. A former cabinet minister, an Indian, had to be buried urgently so that the Selangor Religious Affairs Department would not get at the body after the state funeral.

The ASEAN organisation does not deal with individuals. It does not interfere in each other's affairs. It should not deal with the Thai Malays. But it issued in its Summit communique its concern for internal affairs: it brought out its concern for one individual that the United States supports: the Myanmarese lady, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. But it could have delayed its extinction if it had also reported on other internal issues – the Thai Malays, Acheh and the Moluccas in Indonesia, Mindanao in the Philippines, even Sarawak and Sabah in East Malaysia, for example. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi heads one of theposition groups in Myanmar, abeit one the United States supports. Do we want to be unable to establish links with Mynamar if the 'wrong' Opposition group takes over power. Malaysia supported the wrong part in Afghanisation by establishing diplomatic ties with the group in power, in which 'our' man, Gulbudeen Hikmatyar, was Prime Minister, but it was swept any in the round-robin of governments the country is famous. Malaysia once had links with Afghanisation, but not any more.

The National Front is therefore paranoid at any talk of rebellion. The Opposition is weak, and the National Front can blow rings around it, in parliament, state assemblies and out. That used to suffice in the past. Not now. The people have got brave and demand answers at unusual times. They question government agencies for the ills they do. The government tells lies, and the truth comes out in commissions on inquiries, and under oath. Malaysians are now told that the Home minister, Dato' Azmi Khalid, when to Being this monthj to apologise to the Chinese government for the police illtreating a Malay. Predictably, he said two weeks later he did not go to apologise and that the visit was planned much earlier! But the Malaysian media had reports, several from Beijing, he did just that. He has been telling untruths ever since. In the past he might have succeeded. Those in power believed, rightly, that people have short memories, and only what is said now is believed. But the people are being energised. The more perceptive among National Front, and UMNO, leaders realise this. But the political decision is to ramrod its way so that the people are frightened. But the people are less frightened now. Telling the King not to attend the forum was a sign of weakness. It does not know that after 50 years in power more people, including the intellectuals in the National Front, are against it. Ironically, the rulers are now with the people.

ASEAN as a body is of no interest now. There is much discussion of what the East Asian Sumiit is or would be in papers of the West. But that is also a dead letter, because the Australians and New Zealand is brought in. This makes it impossible for those countries that has an independent point of view from making it known when a Westerner is present. Nothing serious would now be discussed by either body, but it would further draw a wedge between the rulers and the ruled in all the member countries. There was an excessive secrecy about this conference in Malaysia. Pak Lah will meet the correspondents Malaysia invited to a question-and-answer session today. But this will not hide the fact that ASEAN is now a dead letter. The fate of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is important, but is that of 4 million Thai Malays. But Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is not leading the only Opposition in Myanmar. Malaysia should hark back to the past, when she recognised the Afghanistan government when Gulbudeen Hikmatiyar was prime minister in circumstances that made it impossible to recognise any other government in that country.

The National Front has made promises, and carried out work in Pengkalen Pasir that it promised, but would not do, in the Kelantan constituencies it had been elected only last year in the general election. It had used a formula successful after the 1969 riots, and did not change it to suit the circumstances, although those born in 1970, on the same day as the New Economic Policy was initiated, got special treatment as Malays, is now 35 and has different hopes and aspirations than the National Front's tired policies. The mistake National Front and UMNO made was to expect them to be grateful and for life. Those who were not, were treated badly by the National Front. It expected a life-time support for doing what in government it did. It is a tall order. Those Malays in the Opposition were beneficiaries of the National Front government's policy. If it had insisted that its policies in government meant lifetime support for it as a political parties, many would have opted out of it at the beginning. But those new leaders in the National Front and UMNO cannot understand why this should not be so.

The elections in Pengkalen Pasir was between UMNO and PAS, and UMNO was represented by the National Front. It has fine tuned the art of putting down the non-Malay over the years, and does so every day but Election day. Malaysians are told that the non-Malay must be put down in favour of the Malay. The reason is Malay Dominance and the New Economic Policy. I agreed with the policy when it first started, and its progenitors agreed at the time it could go wrong but the Malay would overcome their setbacks and would benefit from the government help. The Malay had been given a raw deal by the British, because the immigrant races - the Chinese and Indians - were more energetic, and were favoured. The British trained Malays to be like them, in the early years of the 20th century. The Malay College in Kuala Kangsar was modelled on Eton in the United Kingdom. Those who went to Malay Schools had to be educated in remove class before they could go English schools. On independence in 1957, this social structure was put in effect. The great debates in Parliament in the late 1950s were by political party leaders of all political parties, the Alliance and the Opposition, Malay and non-Malay. And which is how I ended up at the English College in Johore Bahru and those in school at that time was Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat, my class mate, and the former deputy prime minister, Tan Sri Musa Hitam, as my head prefect; others who were in school included Dato' Dominic Puthucheary, the former MCA president Tan Sri Lee San Choon. It would not happen now.

The Election Commission has castigated other parties for not accepting this as their political philosophy. The Opposition parties believe the Election Commission should be free, but like the Malay government servant, it has a hidden agenda that conflicts with its legal duties. That is why Tan Sri Abdul Rashid was so arrogant about the results, in which the postal votes were more than allowed. He will see to it that UMNO will forever rule. The Opposition parties are a nuisance to this hidden rule, and will be treated as such. To ensure this, he has taken to be mediator between the prime minister, and UMNO President, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, so that UMNO will have a free run. He had two dinners with the Pasir Mas warlord, formerly of UMNO but now an independent, at the Crown Princess in Kuala Lumpur. He wanted Dato' Ibrahim to not contest the byelection, showing his charts and graphs which indicated he will get 400 votes. (This was why Datuk Khairy confidently predicted Dato' Ibrahim would get less than 500 votes.)

It is on shaky ground when it asks PAS to resign from the state government because it has now only a one-seat majority. In 1969, the Alliance ruled Perak and Selangor with a one-seat majority for three years, when the National Front was formed with Opposition parties like Gerakanan and the People's Progressive Party joined it, along with several others including Parti Se-Islam Malaysia, now its sworn enemy for the Malay mantle. After Dr Mahathir won the UMNO presidency by 40 votes against Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in 1987, he said he would not resign with even with a one vote majority. Since the state assembly meets only twice a year, the PAS state government in Kelantan, sits tight and unless it amends the state constitution, which needs a two-thirds majority, it is safe. The National Front, which includes UMNO, can vote against the budget, but it would not vote against any bill which pays them its allowance. It has voted the budget every time PAS was in power. It was forced out in 1978 by a force majeure organised by the National Front. The propaganda machine is to get all people to vote against PAS, not look at the realities. It is fair to ask the Alliance why it did not resign when it had only a one-seat majority in Selangor and Perak in 1969, and why Tun Mahathir said that he would remain if he won by one vote. That PAS has ruled Kelantan for 37 years after the first general elections in 1959 put paid to the notion that it does not know how to rule.

It believes the ground cannot do the job, so it must bring in outsiders. It believes non-Malays cannot handle the issue of the videoclip, so it leaves it to the Malays, who then mishandles it. It comes in force to frighten the Opposition to withdraw the complaint. It is angry it is not believed. But this is how the National Front Malay has always behaved. It takes silence to mean support. It is suprised at China hitting back, as it is when receipts for liquor fly in Pengkalen Timor. It diverts attention. But the people do not believe it. Not even the young Malay. It must change its attitudes. It cannot assume that it can do as it likes because it controls 12 of the state assemblies and the federal government. Its reluctance to penalise the Malay policeman responsible for what happened to the nude woman, the officers of the police station, Malay or non-Malay, is in the name of Ketuanan Melayu. But Ketuanan Melayu is not the policy in China,which has retaliated. The government must not only be fair, but seen to be fair!

It is a fact that tourists from Asia and Africa are harassed. That to officialdom does not matter since the citizen in this country is also harassed. The nude 'ear squats' by women is not new. Police use it regularly to harass non-Caucasian tourists, and those it perceives are the enemy of government. Whatever the authorities say, it does exist. Malaysians and tourists have stepped forward to say they have been victims in the past. The authorities admit the police does it. It has set up a commission of inquiry, but they have refused to have on it Opposition MPs, those who have a contrary view, and it comes after a royal commission of inquiry which showed the police could not be trusted. It had denied until it said in its report that the former deputy prime minister, Dato' Anwar Ibrahim, had been beaten to a pulp by the then Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Rahim Noor. The present crisis is not discussed in Parliament. It wants to resolve it in such a way it is exculpated. The authorities' attitude is that it is alone against the world. They have in the past harassed the public and they had taken courage that the public had kept quiet. The public is only to elect in the National Front so that it could harrass or sideline them. That is evident in Pengkalen Pasir, where two receipts are distributed to show the BN Bilek Gerakan (operations centre). This has not been denied, but it is investigating who bought the drinks which is giving the National Front a bad name. A small version of that happens in Kuala Lumpur about Chinese tourists not visiting Malaysia!

It does not matter whether UMNO or PAS win the byelections on 6 December 2005. PAS would not resign if it loses, and UMNO will not bring in federal or other funds into the constituency. Life will go on as usual no matter who wins. Its election campaign and its hopes for the constituency, which is what it says in its media, is UMNO's hopes for Pengkalen Pasir. But it does not mean it. It never bothered about Pengkalen Pasir when it was in power in Kelantan from 1978 to 1990. Why should it now when it is in the Opposition in the state? Has UMNO done anything like it promises in Pengklan Pasir in the constituencies it has won in Kelantan?

The Malaysian cabinet instructed the home minister, Dato' Azmi Khaled, to explain the Malaysian position to China on November 30, but the Chinese government was not told beforehand. The Chinese ambassador in Malaysia, Mr Wang Chung, who is in the top rung of Chinese diplomats, went to Putrajaya on Tuesday (29 November) to say that the visit is off until the Malaysian government convinces China that this manhandling will not happen again, told what his government would do that day in Beijing. Dato' Azmi Khalid reacted by going on a tirade on newspapers carrying "negative stories". But he should know that megaphone diplomacy is out in a sennsitive matter as this. In that press conference, he admitted that some of the "negative stories" came from government departments. But local newspapers did not have to carry them; but the newspapers here would have taken the cue from Bernama. If they did not, the government press officers would harass them. The Malaysian government use the newspapers as its ragsheets. PAS is given short shrift in the newspapers in the byelection in Pengkalen Pasir, while the National Front is not. The deputy UMNO youth chief is shown painting a house in Pengkalen Pasir, to tell Malaysians it should vote, but he would disappear from the area should UMNO win or lose that election. But UMNO is busy in an Opposition constituency before an election. That is of course no said.

I am regarded as a 'dangerous' person for more than 30 years. A former home minister whom I visit now and then told me of this appellation, and that he had recommended it. I had the habit, he said, of putting in print what should not be. I used to visit him, and occasionally travelled with him, after he had declared me a 'dangerous' person. The country has laws that are aimed at protecting the rulers. They threaten us frequently with the Internal Security Act, and we should not talk against the government 'for even the walls have ears." This has the effect of a cowed citizenry. But I am more likely to be knocked down by a motor car, crossing a busy road with my walking stick and infirm, than be detained under the ISA. The ISA was passed originally to contain the communists. It was later used to harass the non-Malay Opposition members, but now it is used against Islamic fundamentalists, usually PAS members. But its purpose is to keep UMNO in power. I do not mean that I would not be detained under the ISA. I could be. I had grown a beard for more than 20 years, keeping it unkempt until recently, preparing for the day I would be taken in. There are factors why I would not be, but I could be. If those detained under the ISA are anti-Malaysia, why are there so many MPs who had spent time under the ISA?

There are virtually no Indians or Chinese in the police force. In practice, they are selected only if they are stupid or will show the Malays to be brilliant. I had lunch with a business man who told me that scholarships given 35 years ago by his firm were generally to the Malays; the only non-Malays selected were not the best of the non- Malays but the worst. So many organisations give scholarships and bursaries independently, that it is quite normal for a Malay to get several scholarships or bursaries, and the non-Malay none. There is no central body which is told of these scholarships and bursaries. Today, there is threats of forcing the repayment of scholarships and bursaries, often 20 or 30 years after it had been given. The guarantors are never asked to pay, because there is no computer data available on them. This has been erased, so that there is no record of many scholarships and bursaries given. So there is no record. Even if they have the records, the guarantors, unless there are from the Opposition, are never asked for political reasons. And this is so with other departments, in other matters. It allows the police to do what it likes. Much goes on behind the scenes. All that Malaysians can do is to keep quiet. And go against the government when wrong doing becomes public. The man-in-the-street is not surprised. He has more horror stories that do not make the newspapers.

But UMNO has been sailing into the sunset long before Dato' Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) took over as prime minister two years ago. He strengthened his position by winning the general election last year. But he is more interested in keeping UMNO together as he is challenged by warlords in the party, and reluctant to even reshuffle the cabinet he inherited from Tun Mahathir for fear that those dropped would go against him, especially in the 2007 party elections. He is more worried about UMNO than general elections, a trait his predecessor also showed. He is unsure of himself, and there is talk in Kuala Lumpur that he will bring Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim into UMNO - one stone he hopes would kill his two major political enemies, Dato' Seri Najib and his predecessor, Tun Mahathir Mohamed. It was Tun Mahathir who sacked Dato' Seri Anwar as deputy prime minister for committing sodomy but would not appear in court to justify it. No one has asked if Dato' Anwar would rejoin UMNO, from which he was expelled. He is not even a member of Parti Keadilan or its successor, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), former after its amalgamation with Parti Rakyat Malaysia, although his wife, Datin Seri Wan Aziz binti Dato Wan Ismail, is president. He has since said in press releases that he would rather join the Opposition. The scuttlebutt in Kuala Lumpur is that he would join PAS and be its president before the next general election.

In Malaysia, facilities are built not for its citizens but for foreigners. Kuala Lumpur has become a poor example of a third rate European of American citizen so that the foreigner will crow about it. But it is neither, and the citizen is shortchanged. Singapore looks after its citizens better, but does not allow them to have their own mind. It treats its citizen like a pet dog, and does not allow him to go beyond an artificial limit. The result is predictable: it is monkey-see-monkey-do mentality at work. Executives are highly paid but do not think 'out of the box' - as the current Western trite phrase to describe what its leaders must do. Malaysian executives working in Singapore talk of discussions which flounder because the Singaporean executive believes in 'monkey-see-monkey-do' scheme of thinking. This is a phase, and this phase will last as long as modern Singapore paterfamilias, 83 year old Lee Kuan Yew, lives. The island does well economically, but it does not allow thinking to the contrary, and so the Singaporean is kept dark about the future. But the new dawn is already at hand. Particular groups of Singaporeans do not want to be part of the system, and bid their time when they can play a meaningful role outside of the People's Action Party. The laws are made to keep all except those from the People's Action Party out. The Opposition is allowed space to exist only if it follows the PAP's guidelines. So the debates are artificial, just as it is in Malaysia, but the Opposition, not known even by the PAP or UMNO in Malaysia, is active.

The officials do things half-heartedly. That is why these things happen. There is no accountability. When caught out, the wrongdoers are protected and those who dare complain is made the convict or wrongdoer. The government is happy as things are. In fact, we have been told it is doing right by detaining people just because they are in the Opposition. The US, for instance, did it after 11 September 2003. It has thrown its commitment to democracy in doing what is unconstitional. That the great US follows what Malaysia has been doing for decades is proof, in its view, it is right. Detention without trial is an extraordinary and extra legal piece of legislation. Every nation needs it - to have in reserve. It should be used only against those whose activities can affect the nation. But this legislation is used against Opposition members as a political weapon to ensure the Nation Front is in power for all time. How many Opposition MPs were arrested in the past for no reason than their activities upset the National Front?

Education is one way of keeping the rulers separate from the ruled. Conferences like APEC is another. I have a theory that officials go for meetings by whatever name in exotic locations around the world for two or three days so that they can have a holiday at public expense. In Malaysia, civil servants from Johore Bahru fly to Pulau Langkawi to discuss traffic along Sungei Johore, or some such. The hotels get filled, the country or area gets the public approval, some get their bank balances raised. But the result is a holiday, whatever the reason for being in the exotic locale. But as the rulers act, the ruled retaliate. So, as the years go by, the governments in power pass laws to keep the ruled in check. But those who demonstrated in favour of Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Dataran Merdeka, facing the Selangor Court, got cold feet when the police retaliated in force. If they had held their ground, and stayed put, the government could have done nothing. But the demonstration broke up. Now the ordinary man will not take part in any demonstration against the government, which reacts with violent force at any such move. But the spark has been lit. It may be years before it is lit again. But the question is when, not if. There is no major dissidence for such a crowd to gather. The government is fearful of that happening, and so arms itself with powers to stop that. But with each policy against the people, they organise themselves. The National Front is supposed to get the races together, but its raison d'etre is to separate them. Divide and rule is their practice, though unity in strength is the motto. But the youngsters, from all races, cannot see the relevance of the National Front, and unite, often in unemployment. More than 60,000 graduates from local universities cannot get jobs. That is a grave danger for the National Front. Just 2,000 unemployed graduates in Trengganu in 1990 helped PAS win the state. They have lost the state since. But more than 2,000 unemployed graduated are with PAS in the state. The National Front is formulating its policies so that the Opposition will benefit in the years ahead.

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