I have found some of the most interesting and provocative reading materials on the Internet at www.malaysia-today.net edited by Raja Petra bin Raja Kamarudin.

He has opened up a no-holds-barred Debating Corner, where he invites readers to give their views on extremely sensitive questions. Should Sarawak and Sabah have joined Malaysia? Should Malaysia remain a Monarchy or become a Republic? Is politics very much part of Islam? Does Islam Hadhari really exist? Have the Malays changed (for the worse or for the better)?

I must applaud his courage in opening up these Pandora Boxes. In more developed liberal democracies, public discussions on these issues may be a matter of routine. In Malaysia however, to venture into these tabooed territories would border on the foolhardy, if not downright self-destructive. Any view that is not politically correct would immediately bear the stigma of sedition.

What Raja Petra attempts to do is only possible on the Internet, for no government licensed media would want to touch these untouchable subjects with the proverbial ten-foot pole. But even on the Internet, in malaysiakini for instance, I balk at tackling these and other sensitive matters that really matters in our national life.

My hesitation has nothing to do with the ISA. It is just that you never know how your views are going to be received by the netizens out there in anonymous cyberspace. It is an irony that communication on the Internet should deteriorate in proportion to exponential advance in information technology. The freedom of expression afforded by the Internet has more often than not led to a complete breakdown of meaningful dialogues.

Shout and scream

Malaysia Today is no exception. Raja Petra (photo) often has to interject a discussion gone awry, by inserting his sobering questions and clarifications, to restore a modicum of civility.

Finally, in an apparent act of exasperation, Raja Petra threw up his arms and proclaimed, in an article entitled 'The Malays and Their High Horse', his nagging doubt about whether freedom of speech is ever viable. He wrote:

"Malaysians shout and scream about wanting freedom of expression - basically, freedom of speech, freedom of the media and freedom to assemble without the requirement of a police permit, which most times they will not approve anyway. But most people do not really know what freedom of expression means. They think that being able to insult, curse and swear means this is freedom of expression. The Malays have a saying for this scenario: like giving a flower to a monkey. Monkeys do not know how to appreciate a beautiful creation. They would only destroy the flower."

"What you have been seeing in Malaysia Today the last couple of months is a classic demonstration of the immature mentality of those who want the freedom to express themselves but know very little about decorum and decency - what the Malays call sopan santun , which could also mean etiquette. You have been seeing in Malaysia Today the nastier side of Malaysians, Malaysians who show very little respect and consideration for others. And most of these obnoxious characters are Malays."

The last observation was made because most of the visitors to his Malaysia Today are Malays. But this phenomenon of rude Internet behavior is certainly not race-related. The Chinese language www.oldkopitiam.com and the multi-lingual sarawaktalk.com have their fair share of silly lawlessness.

This is a serious scourge for those of us who have invested a great deal of hope in the Internet as the new wonderful medium that will break the stranglehold exerted over public space by government authorities in all states.

The freedom of access and expression made possible by the Internet is an unprecedented opportunity for mankind to begin building a form of solidarity based on transparent and reasonable exchange of the soul. It is certainly a powerful tool for the fostering of national and international civil society, in a celebration of a global human spirit for the betterment of mankind.

Here at last, is the seemingly limitless space of the cyber world, free from the arbitrary and self-serving constraints imposed by god-like power of secular governments. Electronic Utopia seems to have arrived.

Unfortunately, a perfected tool does not make the tool-users better persons. If nothing else, the power to manipulate and exploit that comes with the availability of better tools can and often does draw out the darker side of human nature.

Inevitably, confronted with the most contentious issues of our times, like religion, race or ethics, and protected by anonymity, discussions on the Internet bring to the cyber surface all the repressed and latent prejudices and bigotry that one would never dream of expressing in civilised society in physical space!

Given that invaluable freedom of expression provided by the Internet, netizens forgo all semblance of seriousness and speak out from the top of their head, or the pit of their stomach, or from that unmentionable part of their anatomy. Instead of sympathetic and thoughtful participation, what you get is tomfoolery, clowning and verbal abuse that totters on the brink of juvenile hooliganism.

The first casualty is the credibility of the Internet as an epoch breaking tool for meaningful communication, and as an alternative medium for shaping public opinion. There is simply too much husk and too little grain. At times, one even smells whiffs of the stench that one associates with the cesspool. That is a pity, considering all the costs of lost opportunities.

Pertinent question

The penetration rate of the Internet in Malaysia is low. Apart from this constraint, the damage done to its credibility will further corrode the hope that Internet will ever compete with the repressed press for audience share. A pertinent question will be: how effective will the Internet be, as an alternative medium, in bringing about meaningful social change? At stake here, is the survival of serious news portals like malaysiakini and blogs like Malaysia Today .

Then perhaps, the peculiar nature of Internet communication is not the only reason why attempts at serious discussions in cyberspace almost always run the risks of sinking into the quagmire of verbal vomit.

Perhaps Raja Petra has a point there. Is it a fact that many Malaysians cannot make good use of their freedom of speech, once it is made available to them on the Internet?

Our country has never had much leeway in the realm of freedom of speech. We have never been given the chance to learn how to use that freedom properly for noble purposes. Above all, we have no credible role-models.

A community of scholars who participate actively in public debates would have served as useful role models. A debate among scholars in public would have been dry, but would be highly enlightening about the proper rules of engagement in any debate, like mutual respect, etiquette, and humble concern for the truth that academic discussions require as a set of unwritten rules of conduct during serious discourse.

But where is there ever room for our community of scholars to engage in debate of public issues? Have they all not been reduced to mere teachers, civil servants and bureaucrats, compelled to parrot the sterile political slogans of their paymasters when they do speak in public?

Eventually, politicians and their minions in the culture industry that dominate the media dictate how the young generations of Malaysians should conduct public discourse. They are the only role model available in a country where only their voice is heard by everyone, day and day out, for decades till thy kingdom come.

From them, young Malaysians learn through a process of subconscious osmosis how speaking is an act of will to power, to dominate and to enslave, regardless of truth.

A debate becomes a game to be won at all costs. An argument is a quarrel. When confronted with dissent, use all the tricks of polemics and rhetoric to belittle your opponent. At all times, use value-ridden labels to smear your perceived opponents, and castigate him to the nadir of evil intent.

Freedom to make mistakes

The public sphere in Malaysia has so long been so polluted with the language of violence that BN supporters, aspiring reformists and all those in between these two poles are susceptible to infection by this virus of miscommunication. Letter writers to the editor of malaysiakini are not exempt.

What those admirable Malaysians hope to do through malaysiakini , thefreemedia.com , Malaysia Today and many other Internet forums is nothing less than pioneering the epoch making project of developing a healthy culture in which the freedom of speech can begin to take root in Malaysia. To give up on this project now, just because there is a whole legion of monkeys out there, is like throwing the baby out with the bath water.

After all, freedom always entails some elements of risks. Freedom means also the freedom to make mistakes at times, as long as we are prepared to reflect on and learn from those mistakes. We have to accept the husks with the grain, at this initial stage, provided that we have avenues for separating them.

First of all, these pioneers of freedom of speech have to set their standards for excellence in communication. It is the collective responsibility of people like you and me who contribute to this new medium to explore what those standards ought to be.

In this collective enquiry, perhaps we will also begin to understand what communication really means.