After reading The Lady and I , I could not help but think it a surreal, rose-tinted, romanticised account by Razali Ismail to justify his inertia and failure as UN Special Envoy to Burma.

I certainly doubt if 'The Lady' or the suffering people of Burma are going to draw any comfort from reading his two-part article when what they have long desired and continue to desire from Asean and the UN is straightforward concrete action on behalf of democracy and the rule of law.

Razali achieved little on behalf of democracy and the rule of law after 14 trips to Burma. But the public perception is that his company, Iris Corp, achieved much profit courtesy of the Burmese generals and that too during his tenure as UN Special Envoy. He must have genuinely forgotten to include that in his rose-tinted account of 'The Lady and I'.

So, perhaps he will now consider writing us a hard-nosed account of 'The Generals and I' Part 1 and Part 2 where he tells us more about Asean corporate profits and military-junta contracts. Hopefully, in this hard-nosed account, he will also detail the corporate links between specific generals and specific Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai companies and GLCs that are making money hand over fist in Burma.

And he can begin this hard-nosed account by explaining clearly to us how there was 'no conflict of interest' between his role as UN Special Envoy and that of his business interests when his company Iris Corp secured an e-passport deal in 2002 from the Burmese junta.

Do we continue to wonder why there is still no change in Burma? I certainly am not taken in by any sweet-smelling, rose-tinted, romanticised drivel.