The BN government calls its transformation. The Pakatan Opposition calls it reform.

Transformation or reform, it would not be presumptuous of anyone to suggest that Malaysians don't really care about semantics as long as they get good governance.

They desperately want an end to the corruption of their public institutions, the plundering of their country by corrupt politicians and no more of Mahathir's self-affirmed legacies of a ‘rotten administration' and ‘police state' despite the unfortunate blame attached to the former Badawi administration.

Malaysians want their ugly duckling nation to grow up into a swan and that sort of transformation needs no hype. It will be self-evident. It will be appreciated by all Malaysians.

Slogans and words can't help Malaysian battlers but money saved from corruption and waste can be used to house and feed them.

They just want to see the rule of law applied evenly and no one protected from prosecution and do a Houdini escape act.

The fact that politicians have to interfere in the National Feedlot Corporation scandal when there is the MACC and police agencies to investigate such cases is reason why change is critical if the independence of the public institutions is to be restored.

Otherwise the Malaysian democracy is too dictated to, be nothing more than a dictatorship.

Those still braying for an appeal have learned nothing from Sodomy 1 and its sequel Sodomy 2.

It is self-contradictory to claim credit for change while citing reasons for an appeal. The judge did a judge's job and the facts and justice of the case delivered the inevitable verdict.

The government should bury the idea of a sodomy conviction for their arch-rival Anwar, once and for all and prevent the further attrition of its political capital and credibility.

In a country where dreams fade and nightmares become real, one thing above all stands in the way of reform - the flawed electoral system.

It is the mother of all evils. Her offspring and their delinquent nature are the reason for the nation's malaise of rampant corruption.

And this is the concern of every Malaysian for their country's immediate and long-term welfare as a viable, progressive and democratic nation.

While Bersih 2.0 saw thousands take to the streets and publicised its eight demands for change, and calls for reform have come from a wide cross-section of Malaysians, at home and abroad, the tree of transformation has produced no fruit, not even a tiny bud.

I took a fresh look at an article doing the rounds on the email circuit written by C.N.Ng titled ‘Malapportionment - The Biggest Electoral Fraud', that I could not help thinking reads like ‘The Reason Why Pakatan Will Not Win' and then understood why.

The huge discrepancy between the largest electorate held by Pakatan and the smallest one held by BN runs into six figures, enough voters to make up several electorates.

It is spine-chilling when one is confronted by the naked statistics. It is obvious the electoral boundaries need emergency surgery if GE13 is to be fair and not obstruct anyone else from winning.

Most of the Pakatan-held seats number more than 40,000 while the BN-held seats are less than 40,000.

But malapportionment and gerrymandering may become a double-edged sword if the ‘fixed deposit' voters vote for the Opposition, not an impossibility if voters know the truth and are not mesmerised by the Pied Pipers of politics.

That is the challenge for Pakatan if they can manage to win over the hearts and minds of those who do not traditionally vote for them.

The yeast of grassroots influence must work through the dough of those who do not attend political ceramah, who may not be sophisticated but understand that change is in their interest.

That was how the Muslim Brotherhood got into power in Egypt and their perspicacity and willingness to help the oppressed including embattled minority Christians have paid political dividends. What will happen in future is still to unfold.

Electoral boundaries should be more scientifically, independently and fairly decided and not be politically contrived.

With vote-rigging and other irregularities it is easy to fix an election.

Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarrak overdid it with an over-obvious 90 percent landslide win in the last election only to now languish in jail and face a death sentence if convicted of his alleged crimes against the people.

If an incumbent government is as confident and sure of the people's support it has nothing to fear from free and fair elections. But those who may lose in a fair context will resort to dirty tricks and retain power by hook or by crook.

When an unpopular government stays in power for a long time you can be sure there is hanky-panky involved but eventually the corrupt regime is toppled. It is the guarantee of history.

The transformation of foreigners into instant Malaysian citizens allegedly coerced to vote for the incumbent government insults every Malaysian and those who died defending the sovereignty of their country.

It too tantamounts to a crime against the people.

Such politically-motivated social engineering is treachery and shows how disrespectful those people are to their King, the constitution and the rakyat, especially when so many bona fide Malaysian Tamils born in the country still can't get their rightful citizenship.

Citizenship can't be traded like a commodity even by a government for selfish ulterior motives.

It is a gross abuse of power.

The whoring of citizenship to foreigners threatens the country's national security and sovereignty and Jeffrey Kitingan is right in calling for a royal commission of inquiry.

While they are at it, there should be one on political conspiracies and on corruption of the country's public institutions and justice for victims of political persecution.

The list is a long one.

Adam Adli is yet another political victim of a university that is anathema to the ideals of a place of higher learning.

Stooping to suspend a young Malay student of admirable fortitude tarnishes its own image. Failure to rescind the suspension merely makes it one of the many stooge public institutions carrying out the pernicious politics of repressiveness.

Change the electoral system and make elections free and fair and Malaysia may be taken seriously as a democracy.

Right now it looks like another plundered, repressive and corrupt flawed state, where clandestine activities and political plots along with the running of government are hatched behind the dark closed doors of the political cartels of power.

A ‘clean, efficient and trustworthy' government was promised but so far Malaysians have only seen the opposite. If the politicians concerned won't make themselves accountable in a touted democracy then voters may have to show them how.

An Arab Spring in Malaysia is not in the offing but a Malaysian spring clean is overdue and it has to start with the electoral system.

Until then hope deferred makes the heart sick.

Real change requires everyone to put their hands to the plough and
push hard and achieve something for change.

Tiny raindrops make the torrents and even the mighty river Nile began with little springs.
We need to be the springs of change.