I refer to the letters PSM not about leaders' 'charisma' , PSM dares to dream and PSM is no 'political midget' .

I'm perplexed and bemused, to borrow the pithy phrase of a cleric when reacting to the recent suspension of a vernacular daily over a religious matter, by the ire of some supporters of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) over an article I wrote on an alternative interpretation of the struggle for Merdeka, the subject of a PSM gathering in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 29.

I wonder if reactions would have been less adverse had the article employed the headline I had proposed, 'A Merdeka elegy, moving and revisionist.' In the event its headline was, 'The left wing's vanishing dream', not an accurate guide to the essence of the piece: to wit, the left-wing parties were crucial protagonists in the struggle for Merdeka and the PSM are the closest legatees of the groups which united in 1947 on a non-sectarian agenda to demand independence, a signal achievement in pre-Merdeka Malaya.

Some writers are grateful when published at all, even when sub-editorial interventions are less than adroit. They persevere in the optimism their work would not suffer mis-perception by those who are not wont to nitpick and do have an ear for irony.

I don't think I would be alone in claiming that my article on the PSM gathering that espoused a different to the Alliance-centric version of the struggle for Merdeka, the dominant motif in mainstream media coverage, was not complimentary to the small, hardy band of stalwarts still labouring for a socialist dispensation in Malaysia.

Its tenor was salutary to the PSM though sceptical of their chances of making headway in parliamentary representation. I say this despite my use of terms, such as 'terminal expiry' 'minuscule party and 'political midget' that party faithful, from reading their ripostes, have rounded on to protest as derogatory.

Wrenched from context, those terms would seem so. Read in context, the sub-text of the entire article would, in my opinion, be the truth quotient in a struggle may be in inverse proportion to their exponents' relative size.

In retrospect, I must say I felt a premonitory twinge when S Arutchelvam, the PSM secretary-general and introductory speaker at the gathering, poured scorn on the type of articles in the leading English newspaper in the 1950s, The Straits Times . Daily copies of that paper's 1957 Merdeka week edition were distributed free by its successor, The New Straits Times , in the prelude to the 50th anniversary Merdeka commemoration.

Through a light frost of derision, Arul told the gathering that a story on the presence of an Englishwoman - who was Tunku Abdul Rahman's Merdeka chauffeur in London during the Merdeka negotiations - and her sightseeing interests in Kuala Lumpur was emblematic of the inanity of the ST's coverage of the first Merdeka celebrations.

In other words you guessed it! what did you expect from the media tool of the capitalist class? Notwithstanding that this is standard fare at PSM gatherings, Arul's reading of the browned out editions of the ST was partial, just like the detractors of my piece.

Truth to tell, there was at least one story in the ST that quoted a socialist leader at some length on his dismay that too many people lump socialists with communists. Also, there was a prominent editorial page article by Gerald de Cruz on the fanatical dedication to their cause on the part of communists. De Cruz was no renegade from socialism. In 1947, he was secretary of an historic meeting of socialist groups in KL where the People's Constitution was forged, the document that raised hopes that independent Malaya could be nonsectarian.

The point of all this? All of us need to read extensively and carefully too, so that we may be wise above measure and cultivate truth in charity, the better to avoid being chorus boys with knee-jerk reactions to issues of the day.