We evidently live in a period of contradictions. We have been incessantly reminded - more so during the general elections campaign - not to allow Malaysia to fall to its "enemies" and be "re-colonised".

Then recently, as if taking an extended television commercial break, the "sponsors" of these nationalistic messages suddenly appeared to reveal their true identities in welcoming year 2000. Many lost their heads, wildly celebrating a millennium that had not quite arrived, taken in and intoxicated by the hype propagated principally by the very people who many years ago had indeed colonised us.

Presently, the commercial break seems to have transformed to a badly scripted scene from a Malay drama. Suddenly, when Muslims have barely begun the season of "bermaaf-maafan" (forgiveness), individuals linked to opposition groups are being nabbed under archaic laws developed, yet again, by the very same people who many years ago had colonised us.

Whatever the reasons and official explanations, it is, of course, obvious that these very recent events, particularly the attacks on the opposition and the opposition media, such as Harakah and Detik , do not bode well for the development of free speech and democracy in this country.

It would be much more accurate to suggest that such attacks indicate to many the continuance of the barbaric practice of the politics of vengeance. They reveal how desperate some quarters have become, needing to use force when reason and open debate should prevail.

They illustrate how terribly undemocratic the situation has indeed become in Malaysia, despite inane assertions by apologists that democracy " a la Malaysia" - whatever that means - is alive and kicking.

And, certainly, this pathetic situation becomes more sad and deplorable when you get mainstream journalists and their unions not willing to utter a word of protest. Instead of standing up for their colleagues, they cower and make idiotic excuses.

Despite this, however, popular attempts at increasing democratic space should not, and must not, be derailed. Indeed, the blatant arrogance and abuse of power by those who should know better have resulted in such attempts receiving a much needed shot in the arm.

Malaysians are now demanding more critical and less compliant media. Many have stopped buying and reading what they consider to be purely propaganda sheets. Many also treat local television the way it deserves to be treated, as pure escapist entertainment and fiction, far removed from reality.

Many, indeed, are now more enlightened. In this situation, the authorities surely can't be so dumb as to not realise that silencing newspapers like Harakah - even if on a technicality or temporarily - will have the opposite effects to the ones they desire.

First, it certainly will not mend the split in the Malay community or help restore so-called Malay unity. Instead, it will make the split even worse. Hard though it may be for some to swallow, the fact is Harakah did not cause or precipitate the split. The cause, indeed causes, lie closer to home, in one's own backyard. Hence, it would be a monumental mistake to try to silence Harakah in this manner.

Second, only someone who has spent his whole life in cloud cuckoo land would believe that silencing Harakah - and other oppositional papers - will result in disenchanted Malaysians rushing back to subscribe to the mainstream papers, and, hence, lapping up whatever these papers spew.

The fact is, because of their blatantly shabby, unprofessional, one-sided coverage of significant events over the past couple of years, many of these papers lost whatever little credibility they had. Many Malaysians no longer trust these papers. And trust is not something that can be regained overnight, or by closing down an opponent's paper.

Indeed, on a personal level, regaining trust would require honestly addressing core issues, such as one's dignity, professionalism and ethics. On a wider, institutional level, it would require a re-questioning of structures, a consideration of genuine organisational reform, guided by a professional ideology that makes sense to the "rakyat", not merely to the powerful few.

Third, silencing Harakah will indeed hit PAS financially. But it would certainly be awfully fanciful to believe that this will, in turn, reduce PAS' influence. In this age of the much-touted Multimedia Super Corridor, unless computers and copy machines are going to be banned as well, Harakah 's website will invariably be updated, upgraded, made more " canggih ", and its pages downloaded, copied and more widely distributed. ... irrespective of the new multimedia laws and irrespective of "jamming" devices.

Indeed, proponents of the MSC should be thankful that while many of our ministries (and ministers) are not quite up to speed as far as the new technology is concerned, many opposition groups, on the other hand, have taken up the call to utilise the technology.

So, instead of going all out to, among other things, silence Harakah , thus creating a major national - and international - public relations gaffe and driving a wedge further among Malaysians, the authorities perhaps should start thinking about conciliatory strategies.

After all, we constantly call ourselves a religious people, a pious nation. We boast about becoming a "developed nation". Yet we have allowed our country to be shamed and to be held to ransom by, among others, assorted harlots who, while lying through their teeth, also profess to be religious, untainted virgins. Surely it is time to say enough is enough.