COMMENT I once shared my ideas about rural strategy for Pakatan Rakyat with a senior politician and old friend. He all but laughed at my apparent naivete.

I suppose I will go ahead and share the same here, one benefit of writing being that one seldom has to suffer such laughter in person.

I think the most important context for this discussion is the nature of democracy in Malaysia. For the most part, we do not choose the people who govern our lives from day to day...