In Opposition comedy comes to Ketari (March 14) Dr S Vijayaratnam implies that Keadilan is "crumbling". It is strange, then, that he is worried enough to spend time giving unsolicited advice to DAP regarding that party's co-operation with Barisan Alternatif.

Perhaps life in Barisan Nasional is too boring since Gerakan can only make little squeaks on important issues such as Islamic state and mother tongue education.

If Vijayaratnam had been more alert, he might have known that DAP has never dismissed the possibility of opposition co-operation on matters of common interest, such as human rights, transparency, and accountability in government. That attitude is not only the position of the party — it is also the will of concerned citizens.

The best Vijayaratnam can do for himself and his party is to reflect on Gerakan's position within BN. Besides acting as an Umno apologist, with an occasional feeble protest over some issue to show its — hahaha — "conscience", what has Gerakan achieved besides garnering a few seats and privileges for its top leadership?

Why, for example, should Malaysians believe in Gerakan's sincerity when Dr Lim Keng Yaik supports the ISA threat to silence democratic dissent? Why should minority groups support Gerakan when it refuses to oppose Umno's hoax of a vision school? Where was Gerakan when concerned parents marched for the re-opening of SJK(C) Damansara?

What does Dr Vijayaratnam have to say about Kajang's Bandar Sungai Long, a town with 20,000 residents, of which more than 95percent are Chinese but is without a single Chinese primary school? The dearth of Chinese primary schools is not an accident, but a consequence of carefully calculated official policy supported by Gerakan, MCA, and other eunuch parties. The agony of the Chinese community, and for that matter the Indian community when it comes to Tamil education, is real, concrete, and not based on some abstract principles.

So spare us words such as "principles" and "trust," Vijayaratnam: Gerakan leaders wouldn't know them even if they're stamped on their noses.