'I guess apart from making seditious remarks, Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali does not have any real interest in policy debates.'

Ibrahim Ali explains state of drowsiness

Malaysian Born: They are members of parliament and they are paid for their attendance and work. If a normal wage earner was found sleeping on duty they would lose their job but this MP, after getting caught on film, is trying to give rubbish excuses.

Actually it's a real pity that our parliamentary sitting is not televised live so that we can see our representatives at work - it will ensure they behave properly as they will be held to account.

Hopefully, at the next election this aberration of an MP will be given leave to stay at home permanently.

1M: It's okay, let him sleep, at least the country is free of racist remarks for a couple of minutes.

Ben-ghazi: Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Ronald Kiandee said it was wrong of the individual, whoever it was, to have snapped the picture.

Tell us, is it legally wrong, morally wrong or politically wrong? I don't see anything wrong with it.

Jeremy Ng: Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali, there is no need for you to explain. You were caught sleeping on the job. And a person of your stature must be careful. Next time you don't feel well, you must take leave.

Quigonbond: If he's really interested in the topic being discussed, he would be awake, never mind he took cough drops or not. I guess apart from making seditious remarks, he does not have any real interest in policy debates.

Bob Teoh: The more he sleeps the safer the country is.

Tkc: The speaker should fine him a token sum for sleeping on the job. In addition, he needs to apologise to his constituents in Pasir Mas for letting them down.

Asri: Politics, royalty shackling Malay intellect

David Dass: Professor Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin is an interesting person. He is courageous. We may not always agree with him but we admire his preparedness to go against conventional thinking. We need people like him. We know that we are succeeding when there are people like him.

The diverse races in this country all come from societies with feudal traditions. The ruler was absolute and his word was law. Things have changed but some attitudes die hard. New rulers have emerged who emphasise feudal observance for hierarchy and status in society. Hence the great demand for titles.

Some bits of the old are good. Respect for elders is a good thing. But respect must not only come because of position. Respect must be earned. It must be deserved.

Our rulers have a constitutional role. They must live up to the high expectations people have of them. They must set the standards of courtliness and old world traditions of grace and refinement and carefully balance their role in an increasingly vigorous and stressful stage of our democratic growth.

The rulers must be the galvanising force for national loyalty and aspirations. Many are chancellors of universities. They must emphasise the search for truth and knowledge before anything else.

And their conduct must reflect love and compassion for their people. And in their constitutional role, they should be the fountainhead of justice and the rule of law.

DontPlayGod: With such views, Umno will consider you, Mohd Asri, its enemy.

Now Umno has second thoughts about doing away with the ISA. They will be thinking how useful the ISA is for people like you.

Rahmat Ibrahim: By the end of this week, Umno members would have made about 500 reports against the professor for treason and sedition - which will prove that the professor is right in his analysis.

Swipenter: That is how Umno/Malay royalty control the minds of the Malays, but for pointing out the obvious, you have broken a taboo.

Dr Asri, you are being brave (but also foolhardy). You must be prepared to be a target of hate campaigns and attacks by Umno and Utusan Malaysia for being so outspoken and brash about the whole matter.

But you are right - this country needs a new deal one where social justice, equality, equal opportunities, fairness, transparency and accountability are the guiding principles for governing the country.

Yeo Eng Khean: Spot on, professor. Feudalism has been the curse stalling the progress and intellectual development of the rakyat, especially the Malay community. We salute you for your intellectual honesty.

Polls Budget: Pakatan, BN compete to show they care

Onyourtoes: In their struggle for power, both BN and Pakatan need to come up with some populist measures. However, this reflects not just the rottenness of our politicians. It reflects who we Malaysians are in general.

We are a bunch of unproductive people forever wanting to have good life without working and saving for it. But it is my sincere belief that once Pakatan gains power, there will be significant change in the way we manage our economy.

To begin with, I think we could easily cut the national expenditure by 10 percent by looking at the number of extravagant, redundant, and overlapping programmes, presently undertaken by the government.

The cut will only affect the profit of those supplying goods and services to the government.

Second, it is a misconception to keep saying the lower income groups need help. I think the lower income groups have to begin by helping themselves. Many of them simply spend unnecessarily and beyond their means.

Hope: Before you shoot from the hip, remember that the finance minister in the past was none other than Anwar Ibrahim.

Name one year, just one, that he had the rakyat at heart.

Those were the suffering years for Malaysia, and he had suggested that we go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the crisis, the same ones now turning the screw on Greece, but in a milder way.

It was simple, the IMF wanted the government changed before they gave anything, and Anwar wanted to be PM, so he was ready to sacrifice the rakyat.

SMC77: If we go back to the history, I dare to say Malaysia lost the golden opportunity to reform its economic structure during 1997/98 financial crisis.

You just need to look at South Korea and Indonesia. Both the South Koreans and Indonesians suffered the pain of economic reforms set by IMF and World Bank. Fifteen years later, both countries are considered as the most vibrant economies in Asia.

Today, almost every household in Malaysia will have a product from Samsung, Hyundai and LG. About 10-15 years ago, it is hard to find anyone in Malaysia buying South Korean products.

Malaysia lost a golden decade to move ourselves to a higher value chain in global economy and stuck with cheap labour and low-tech industries.

I am not joking, in another 15 years, Malaysia could be the country exporting maids to Indonesia given the pace of economic progress there.

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