I refer to the report about 75-year-old Australian, Sir Norman Frank Sisson, who died yesterday.

Sisson had waited patiently for eight years while the Immigration Department took its own sweet time and dilly-dallied, giving an obviously deserving applicant the runaround. Meanwhile, we all know there are many thousands of other types of foreigners who have obtained their MyKads with ease.

The Immigration Department needed more than eight years to decide on his application. I say "more than" because for sure, if the report about him was not published before he went into a coma, he would be dead before he could be granted permanent residency (PR).

The man was in a coma, he may or may not have known that his PR had been approved. But to imply that he did, and insinuate he died a happy man because he "finally got his Malaysian PR" is presumptuous and offensive, in my opinion.

The more pertinent question is, why did Immigration Department take so long, and will an investigation be carried out to uncover the reasons? I will bet too that Sisson's is not the only cases that has been sitting in cold storage for many, many years. I'm sure there are deserving applicants out there who can't get their PR because not only is the department inefficient, they give preferential treatment.

Does this story in any way encourage foreigners to invest or come live here under the My Second Home programme? Does this story in any way attempt to find out the real root of the problems?

Why is it that issues like this have to be mentioned in the press before anything gets done in this country? Why is it that terrible accidents have to happen before the authorities take action to build an overhead pedestrian bridge, or carry out maintenance work on badly rotting schools, etc?

Why do heads never roll in this country? Why is no one ever held accountable for their failures and wrongdoings?