I refer to the Malaysiakini report Umno bids farewell to Pak Lah, placates Ali Rustam .

The Umno general assembly is over. The ‘new team’ is in place. They are ‘ready for change’.

Lest anyone is naive enough or deluded enough to even think that this team, or any Umno leadership team for that matter, is ready for ‘change’, let me just say that the nightmare is about to begin.

Sorry, let me correct myself. Yes, they are indeed ready to ring in the changes. But what kind of changes? Well, the battle cries ringing out from the general assembly were loud and clear - go on the offensive!

In fact, it will be more of an assault and they are even more likely to be on the warpath. Pakatan Rakyat people, bloggers, journalists and anyone else who has crossed swords with Umno over the last year can expect arrests, intimidation, threats, bribery and blackmail.

People who have not done anything to Umno but who are doing a great job running their respective states can also expect the same treatment.

Pakatan Rakyat will be undermined, and under siege, and Anwar Ibrahim will definitely be the main target. There will be a surge of racist policies as Umno fights to win back the Malay ground at all costs.

This is the real change that's going to happen. A change from the relatively more ‘gentle’ way of Pak Lah. It does not matter who won the Umno elections; the thrust and direction of Umno are determined by its warlords and it's basic philosophy has not changed.

The warlords have spoken very clearly at their general assembly and the new team will have to carry it out.

For Pakatan, it will be an intimidating period. For those of us who voted for Pakatan, and wants it to succeed in order to give rise to a true two-party system, may our minds and hearts remain strong and may we not succumb to the temptation of losing hope.

May we not surrender our minds to the massive propaganda and lies that will besiege us from here onwards.

Yes, we exercised our rights to vote, and we gave more than 50 percent of the votes to Pakatan on March 8, but may we be mindful that voting is both a right and a duty.

And our duty as citizens goes beyond voting for ultimately it is our duty - everyone of us - to protect and enhance the survival of a multi-party democracy that will ultimately improve the quality of our lives.

Our job does not end with just voting and then sitting back and grumbling about what the politicians cannot do for us. Our job is to maintain eternal vigilance, for that is the price of democracy.

Perhaps we can volunteer our services in our local areas if we have the time, see what we can do to improve things around us, and help to disseminate information as best we can, as the media clampdown is sure to begin and we will not be getting accurate information from here onwards.