It feels like only recently that I submitted my first column to malaysiakini . It is now celebrating its fifth anniversary. Congratulations to editor-in-chief Steven Gan and his pioneering team on this significant milestone!

I wish you continued success, and may you not waver in your commitment to excellence in serving the public. You are an exemplary model for others to emulate.

Malaysiakini is blazing a daring new trail for greater freedom of expression in Malaysia. Steven and his brave colleagues will be the first to admit that theirs has not been an easy journey. It has never been easy to be daring; in Malaysia it can be downright dangerous.

Yet, despite the odds and obstacles thrown in its way, malaysiakini has not only survived but also thrived. The best tribute is that others now follow in its path, all doing their part to pry wider the doors to greater freedom. Success is indeed the sweetest revenge!

Brave and enterprising souls like Steven give lie to the perennial complaints heard too often in Malaysia that the country's repressive laws hamper creativity. Of course the nation would be better off without those intrusive and oppressive laws, but they should not be the convenient excuse for those less inclined to push the boundaries.

Steven and others like him are doing much more for the cause of freedom in Malaysia than all those unimaginative political activists and reformers whose only solution to every barrier put up by the state is to run amok in the streets.

In malaysiakini, the government's penchant for control has finally met its match. The government is reduced to pitiable impotence in the face of this new medium. Nonetheless that does not stop clumsy ministers from making threatening but nonetheless patently empty threatening gestures against it.

A pathetic example was the spectacle in January 2003 when officials of the home ministry, then under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, made the bungling raid on malaysiakini, hauling away its computers in a futile attempt to shut it down.

Yes, malaysiakini was disabled momentarily. The humiliation on the faces of those officials however, was permanently etched in the archives of cyberspace, an ever-ready source of cheap laughs. Meanwhile malaysiakini continues to thrive, gaining even greater number of readers and influence.

Wide readership

I am very proud to be associated with this fine organisation since its early days. I was initially directed to its website by my one of my readers who suggested that I contribute to this exciting new and independent news portal.

Not wishing to invest too much intellectual effort, I submitted my first piece, Sultan Syndrome , which was essentially a summary of the chapter with the same title in my first book, 'The Malay Dilemma Revisited'.

Prior to that I was a frequent contributor to newspapers. The only way I knew that my piece had been published was when one of my nephews would mail me clippings. I never received any acknowledgement from the editors, and only occasionally would I get letters from readers.

At malaysiakini, my experience was refreshingly different. First, I actually received an acknowledgment from Steven thanking me for my contribution. I expected that from my American editors, but such niceties are unheard of among the Malaysian crowd.

The pleasant surprise did not end there. A few days later my e-mail was inundated with letters from readers. Indeed that was how I knew that my piece had been published.

The pattern continues. Through malaysiakini I have heard from readers, Malaysians and non-Malaysians alike, from literally all corners of the world.

The most gratifying part of all is that I get to see my essays published without being mangled or 'edited' to the point that I could hardly recognise them.

Today, as a consequence of the hard work of Steven and his fine team, I proudly put in my byline and resume, 'Columnist for Malaysiakini.com!'