To see the Iron Lady Rafidah Aziz, who is in the center of the AP storm, in a flood of tears at a press conference was so touching. God knows how much pressure she is facing what with the press hounding her with probing questions about the selection of those individuals who were given thousands of APs .

The cynical will say they are crocodile tears to win sympathy from the crowd after fingers were pointed at her for the inequality in the distribution of APs. But they could be genuine tears what with the many allegations against her relating to the transparency in awarding these permits.

And to have a junior deputy minister asking her to apologise in public for being rude to her former mentor could also have been too much for her, thus leading to her flood of tears in public. To see the combative, rapid-fire - and I dare say one of the most intelligent ministers - in sauch state shows that she is human after all, not unlike the rest of us with human feelings.

Anyway, hats off to the government for making the AP list public and hopefully this will lead to an end of individuals selling off their permits to third parties for short-terms profits (the Ali Baba types).

Genuine bumiputera motor businessmen who wisely used their AP allocation to set up ties with foreign dealerships and expand the local automotive sector should be applauded for their business acumen rather than being the target of brickbats.

Hopefully, the Customs and Excise Department will now crackdown on those dealers who have under declared the price of their imported vehicles for a higher profit margin at the expense of the government and the consumer. It is unpardonable that the nation has to lose millions of ringiit to these unscrupulous villains.

As for an ordinary 'salary man' like me, I can only dream of having a Mercedes-Benz, BMW or De Tomaso Pantera parked in my porch. My tears are reserved for the ordinary and downtrodden citizen of the country who lead extraordinary lives to put food on the table for their families.

The citizens who have to depend on beat up vehicles or erratic public transport to go from one place or another. Really, at the rate government policy is going, the rich and powerful with connections will get richer, while the poor and downtrodden without connections - but with dignity - will remain poorer. How sad but true.