The arbitrary shooting and killing of suspects seems to have become something the Malaysian public has gotten used to and now keeps silent about. The inhumanity of legalised killing seems to have worn thin and is no more a shock to the public.

Now, with the 'hunting down' of undocumented immigrants in progress, there are so many who have joined in that 'hunt' with enthusiasm - 300,000 Rela members (according to mainstream media reports) for RM80 per suspected undocumented immigrant arrested.

Nothing is mentioned as to how these Rela volunteers will differentiate between undocumented immigrants and documented immigrants. Not to mention refugees whose refugee status granted by the UNHCR has in the past not been recognised by the authorities.

Malaysia is not a country famed for respecting human rights. Its extrajudicial killings, detention without trials and the death penalty only speak of the underlying insecurity our administration fears to admit.

If the police have shown a possible inclination to be 'trigger happy', how inherent will this be in mere Rela volunteers? Even officers make mistakes. Who will take responsibility for the fatal mistakes they make?

Is our country becoming a police state? Since the March general elections, through which we welcomed our new prime minister with open arms giving him a landslide victory, the nation seems to have exhibited an unprecedented arrogance and contempt for human rights or compassion for the disadvantaged and under-privileged.

Our traditional values seem to have been discarded like so much unfashionable junk. The use of the ISA and other such laws legalising detention without trial appears more frequently used than under any other past administration in our peace time history as a sovereign state.

Even those who, rightly, should not have been charged under the ISA have been imprisoned under that draconian law. The use of these emergency laws reflects the government's state of mind for after all, no imminent emergency exists in this country.

The alleged war on terrorism appears to be an offspring of paranoia and an excuse to repress alleged 'subversive elements' whose open opposition threatens the Barisan Nasional. These quick-fix measures could give rise to worse future circumstances.

The apparent crackdown on corruption only seems to target certain people, but others are left free to continue preying on ordinary citizens. Nepotism and cronyism are far from over. What is long over though is Pak Lah's honeymoon.

We still wait to see sincerity in the government's action to clean up its own house - to begin with. The ruling coalition's habit of paying lip service and have 'window dressings' for foreign viewing is all too familiar.

The country still waits.