We have just witnessed our first cosmonaut or space tourist (depending on your point of view) return safely to earth, but it appears that our leaders are still in orbit or even lost in space.

At the recent launch of our first Scorpene submarine , Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak was reported as saying that no government is perfect but we are doing our best to improve (hence the buying of the submarines?). He put great emphasis on our achievements in space and the upgrading of our defence as evidence that we have arrived on the international stage and are ready to go places (my interpretation here).

Hold your horses dear leader, are you not the same person who at home appointed a three-man panel to look into the authenticity of the Lingam tape, thereby missing the woods from the trees. Despite the public uproar and demands for a royal commission, the ACA has been instead tasked to in effect clear the judiciary.

Are these the actions of a country that is proud and confident of itself? I'm afraid not and the longer the government drags its feet on the setting up of this commission, the world that we are trying so hard to impress will continue to laugh at us.

However you look at it, is unfortunate for the country that the tape has surfaced. We are just like a parent who has always suspected that his son was a drug addict but has now been given some proof. Do we continue to question the evidence when we know deep down it is true or do we face the problem and take whatever steps we need to rehabilitate our son, though we know the pain we both have to endure.

Ultimately Pak Lah must realise that a royal commission is the only way for us to proceed if we are to take ourselves seriously as a democratic nation. More so, it will not cost us hundreds of millions of ringgit like buying the submarines and sending a man to space, and it will send a strong signal that we are ready to face our demons in order for us to grow as a nation.

Only then Najib, you can climb down from the ceiling and we can begin to claim that the country has arrived.