The world is undergoing revolutionary changes not only in transportation, communication, business, science and technology, but also in the re-distribution of global politics and military powers. Are Malaysians willing and ready to face the challenges in the near future? It seems not.

One, our mainstream newspapers and institutions of higher learning are still dominated by a group of self-serving, narrow-minded and arrogant political appointees, whose job is only to control knowledge, information and opinions in order to protect the semi-authoritarian status quo. Increasingly, Malaysians with new and bright ideas are either emigrating or keeping quiet.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the realm of public discourses in the Malaysian mainstream media is a fool's paradise: wrong, silly and dangerous ideas are not challenged or debated and continue to circulate as government-sanctioned truths.

Two, even if such ideas of the ruling elites are challenged in alternative media like malaysiakini, the ruling elites and their intellectual minions do not seem to be capable of defending themselves or changing for the better: their collective ego is certainly too big and their "face" too thick.

Three, the communication skills of Malaysians seem to be so weak that they can longer articulate any meaningful and productive new ideas for public discussions, and the decline in our command of languages has worsened in the past 23 years because the minds of the people have been programmed with simplistic slogans by ruling elites and their advertising agencies, instead of being enriched by ideas intelligently presented and debated in good Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil.

Four, as the combined result of the above-mentioned factors, the collective mind of Malaysians seem to have become rotten to the core, and people now do not like to think and debate, but prefer to be entertained by crowded and noisy activities that only stimulate the wild part of the heart but not the rational portion of the brain.

Look at our youths who spend their time idly and mindlessly in the games parlours, shopping malls, and bars and pubs. Look at even our ruling elites who vainly think that being shown in the media playing golf, officiating Formula One, socialising with movie stars and singers and attending grand dinners. This country is doomed in mental emptiness, cultural vulgarity and

over-stimulation of the wild parts of their beings.