Despite the many prophets of doom who predict the death of Keadilan in the aftermath of the faulty 11th general election, I think there is hope for this five-year old multiethnic opposition party provided it fine tunes its strategies:

The founding concepts and principles of Keadilan are correct and futuristic indeed, but because of the shortage of time and lack of publicity in the mainstream media, many people still do not understand the objectives of the party. Many still identify Keadilan as 'Anwar Ibrahim's wife's party' or as 'a Malay party.'

Therefore, Keadilan has to be consistent and patient in explaining to the people its objectives. Also, since it is now unrealistic to expect an alternative government in the near future, it is important to build up Keadilan's image as a vocal, intelligent and responsible opposition.

To do this, Keadilan leaders need to engage in more public-speaking, publish their opinions on websites and in various publications and also hold more meet-the-people dialogue sessions. These have to be done regularly and consistently.

Candidates, victors or losers, should settle down in their constituencies (Batu for Tian Chua, Lembah Pantai for Dr Sanusi Osman, for example) to understand, identify and try to solve local problems.

As Sun Tzu said: 'We must know ourselves and also our opponents.' In short familiarity and identification with local people and conditions is very important.

Settling down in constituencies is akin to the military establishing bases before engaging in an offensive. Only if and when the home bases are secure can the opposition hope to go out for a political offensive across the country. Without home bases, opposition leaders crisscrossing all over the country like nomadic warriors will certainly cause a lot problems both for themselves and the voters.

Given the media control in Malaysia, settling down and working on the ground is one way of reducing reliance on government-controlled channels. I wish Keadilan well and good luck. Lawan tetap lawan !