If you are a Malaysian and have to rely only on the mainstream media for news, you could be excused for being befuddled over what happened in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 10.

You would have been confounded too, the day before, to see the normally busy streets eerily empty except for police trucks and personnel. Tourists could be excused into thinking that they were visiting a banana republic in the midst of another routine military coup.

It turned out that the only folks befuddled on both days were ministers and officials. The citizens knew exactly what was going on despite the news blackout by the mainstream media. That more than anything demonstrates the irrelevance of their editors and reporters.