YOURSAY 'It is not a crime to seek truth and ask questions. The cultivation of capability for critical thinking and independent thought should be the mission of our universities.'

Hero's welcome for Nurul Izzah at UM forum

Mushiro: It is so very clear that Umno is scared to debate, scared of forums, scared to face the very people they claim to represent, and scared of any intellectual discourses.

But they are very quick to use the biased MSM (mainstream media) to attack the opposition without giving them a chance to reply. Basically, Umno will only fight when their opponents are gagged, blindfolded and their hands tied.

Disbeliever: "Debate is not our culture," so said the PM and the BN politicians. We have debates in schools and yet Umno-BN consider debates a western culture. Why?

There are two things that I believe contribute to the fear of debates by the ruling party; firstly the lack of eloquent debaters, which means that they will not be able to stand up to the opposition debaters.

Secondly, which is more important, are the many skeletons in the closet (some already exposed) of the ruling government.

Without debates, PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli has already exposed some of those skeletons: National Feedlot Corporation and Amangate, just to name a few; with debates, the allegedly corrupt Umno-BN will have more of their skeletons exposed.

For example, should the PM accept Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's invitation to debate, the former might be exposed to being question about the Altantuya Shaariibuu affair and also the Scorpene submarine kickbacks.

Therefore, the best way for Umno-BN to avoid these pitfalls is to say that "debate is not our culture".

Kanasai: It is not debate but transparency that is not Umno's culture. To debate, you need facts and data to support your arguments. How to debate when there are so many scandals?

Cannon: "Debate is not our culture" - what a lame excuse from the Umno-BN politicians. The real reason is, they fear facing the people in an open forum.

Accountability and transparency are simply not the culture of this regime. That's why they tried so hard to suppress public assemblies and rallies and obstruct the work of NGOs not beholden to the regime, like Bersih.

They are unable to defend their conduct and public record and cannot rebut their critics. These leaders will reveal their lack of intellect if they take on their rivals in a debate - and they know it.

Tehachapi: Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) director Mohammad Redzuan Othman Prof Redzuan, I sincerely salute your courage and that of your fellow colleagues to organise the forum and take a strong stand despite pressures from the government.

It is our collective responsibility to nurture the development of critical minds in our country. No one should be allowed to trample on our most precious resource. Neither should anyone be permitted to plant fears in these minds.

It is not a crime to seek truth and ask questions. The cultivation of capability for critical thinking and independent thought should be the mission of our universities.

What is happening at Umcedel augurs well for the robustness of our democracy. You have contributed to the promotion of political dialogues, debates and knowledge about democracy.

In the words of Voltaire, "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Let us plant this admirable seed in the minds of our young students. Kudos, Umcedel.

CQ Muar: Bravo, Redzuan - please keep it up for our country needs dedicated and sincere people like you.

Under any circumstances, one must be guided by our conscience and discharge our duties honourably, only then can we stand tall, regardless of race and creed.

We are all Malaysians, hence we're not obsequious or subservient to selfish and unreasonable demands. We are loyal only to king and country. God bless.

Kosongcafe: What a farce in terms of democracy, freedom of speech and fairness, especially with BN's transformation programmes.

It had all the signs of BN's insecurity and certainly showed they are losing control. Public sentiments for alternative views and change seem unstoppable.

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar can rest assured she will be re-elected despite all the hype on challenger Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin's part.

Raja Chulan: I sincerely think that Nurul will make a fine PM for Malaysia one day. We need a young, untainted and progressive person to refreshen and to lead Malaysia into the new era of politics, development and mindset.

This will be the real ‘transformasi' and ‘reformasi' - a two-in-one formula for the good of all Malaysians.

Fantastic4: "You have seen today that there was no problem, no provocation, no touching on racial matters. Sometimes we worry about ghosts that do not exist," Redzuan lamented.

It's not the "ghosts" that the government is worried about (if any, it's created by them) but that their incompetency in any matter (expecially in governing the country) that's so obviously displayed should any of them open their gap.

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