I refer to ACS Wee's letter Give PM a year's grace . This is the kind of talk that older Malaysians have been hearing whenever the government or its top leaders are unable to deny the validity of the criticisms made by the opposition and also when they are incapable of engaging in honest and intelligent debates with critics.

As a matter of fact, our Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has had enough grace periods: One, the first 100 days after he came to power and two, the few years he served as deputy prime minister.

And three, Abdullah is not a first-timer in power - he has been serving the BN government for some 30 years now.

Promising too much before an election is not the fault of the voters or the opposition. It is Abdullah's, or at least, his advisers' or spin-doctors' fault. The voters and opposition are perfectly legitimate in asking that promises be fulfilled. If one cannot fulfill the promises one has made, then one should not blame others.

If Abdullah cannot fulfill promises alone, then he should devolve powers and instruct his spin-doctors not to build another personality cult around him via the mainstream media.

He should remember that there is always life outside Putrajaya if one does not want to be burdened by 'noises' in this age of democratic awakening. No one has ever forced Abdullah to be the prime minister.

One cannot have the pie (to be the PM or elected representative) and eat it too (not to be pressured by voters and critics). Learn this as Democratisation 101.