Everyone yearns for day when our country is finally liberated. We yearn for the day that the mainstream media is unshackled, we yearn to see the ISA abolished, we yearn for an independent judiciary and we yearn for truly free elections.

As we yearn for all these liberties, we need to be educated and reminded that there is a price for liberty - and the price is eternal vigilance. Every single person who lives in a liberated society needs to keep watch and be eternally vigilant of the forces that work against the very liberty that we so desire.

Sometimes it is obvious - like when peaceful gatherings are forcefully broken up and people arrested under ISA or when the loud voices of tyranny, like that of Perkasa, shout at us and assault us. That we can't miss. We cannot miss the obvious message that it carries. Ironically, this is a less damaging assault on our quest for liberty.

On the other hand, there are insidious forces at work on behalf of tyranny. These forces work to manipulate us even as our minds are clouded by our overwhelming desire for liberty. Our judgments are compromised. We really need to be vigilant.

This brings me to the ongoing PKR party elections. It is, in reality, a very smoothly-held and well- coordinated party elections. A total of 95% of the divisions completed their voting without any untoward incident. It is the first ‘all-member voting’ party elections in the history of Malaysia. It is a truly multi-racial, all-inclusive, empowering and transparent elections.

It is a breakthrough. Those are irrefutable facts. Yes, there were and will be some hiccups here and there. Surely it cannot be expected to be perfect considering that it has never been done before, and surely, it can be improved. As it is, it is already a cause for celebration. It is a festival of democracy. It is one big step forward in our path to liberation.

However, there are obstacles. It is obvious to me, and to many others, that the external forces of tyranny are at work to undermine the elections. There are cyber-troopers working to create the impression that the PKR party elections are chaotic. There are many dubious and exaggerated reports, in mainstream media as well as online media, of ‘disruptions’ during the recent voting.

Where there are problems and disputes, these could have been caused by ‘infiltrators’ who have entered the party recently or some time ago, and who are now causing disruptions to cast bad light on the party. Genuine members of the party can probably identify who the infiltrators are. ‘Infiltrators’ can also stand in the party elections and take over key positions. It is not inconceivable for the party to be ‘lost’ to external forces through this insidious method.

Fortunately, the implementation of ‘all-member voting’, the transparency of the whole election process, and most importantly, the vigilance of the people, have appeared to have struck a critical blow to the evil forces of tyranny. Although it's not over yet, I venture to declare that democracy has triumphed.

How can we ensure that we continue to succeed? We must stay true to the cause of liberty in order to free ourselves from 52 years of tyranny. We must see beyond the perceptions created by those characters (big and small) who want us to believe that they are our indispensable liberators, although in reality, they have no intention to liberate anybody except themselves ... from the people they owe themselves to.

We must mindfully weigh the words of eloquent and arrogant politicians against the honest deeds of four hundred thousand warriors who fought for the cause of reform right from that dreadful day 11 years ago. We must allow the warriors to decide who they want to lead them to continue the battle for reform.

The road to liberty is going to be tortuous but we are already almost there. We just need to remind ourselves that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.