I read the letter on Mardos the baby elephant entitled Perhilitan must explain Mardos fiasco and it made me cry.

Malaysia might be trying to win tourists over in 2007 with photos of rainforests and orangutans but behind these tourist-pleasing images is a heartless government with dollar signs in its big eyes, a chainsaw in its grip and a large boot compressing the last breath out of its wildlife. They are not fooling the rest of the world.

I would love to visit your country and your beautiful animals hanging on in pockets of breath-taking wilderness not yet touched by the cronies of government and big business.

But I won't visit Malaysia in 2007 because your government scares me. Tourists won't come in big numbers while they feel unsafe.

While the Malaysian government continues to treat its rainforests and wildlife with disrespect, people will be wary. A country is judged by how it treats its animals.