Only people with the least regards for a nations sovereignty would smear their motherland when they are overseas. These people think, by taking a Mahathir-bashing route, they will be accorded fair hearing of their plights in the international community.

I believe that was what Dr Jacob George meant in his letter Impound passports of those who smear country , but his own homeland countrymen are disgusted with his courage to speak shamelessly about his conviction for a country he cherished.

In the various media forums, we see the very people who profess to advocate the promised land of human rights in Malaysia, cannot even tolerate a dissenting view that points the other way, different from theirs. This is human rights fallacy numero uno .

It is about time the government dealt with our countrymen who abuse their privilege traveling overseas on a Malaysian passport. Have their passports compounded, or withdrawn, if they fail to recognise that a Malaysian passport is essentially a privilege bestowed on deserving citizens, but never a birthright.

For those who are ignorant of Malaysian laws, they should visit the Malaysian Immigration website .

There are tremendous perils if the Government drags its feet in enforcing its authority over those who violate the prevailing laws of the country.

By instituting the rule of law banana country. So what good does it serve to the silent majority of Malaysians who cherish progress and tranquility after 44 years of political, economic and sovereign independence?

I used to take taxicabs and day-tours in many cities in the course of my overseas trips, maximising opportunities for a good mix of business and leisure. It is during eyeball-to-eyeball moments with grassroots community like this that I got to valuate their perception about Malaysia.

An Ukrainian taxi-driver who took me from a San Francisco hotel to the international airport confessed to me that he has heard about Malaysia as a land of peace and abundant opportunity. If it werent for his brethren who have migrated to the US, he would have considered Malaysia. He told me he marveled at our country having a good leader in Dr Mahathir who dared to speak up, and put his house in order domestically. He said Cuba is one example of a country with a vocal leader but financial ill-health.

In another taxi-trip from New York City to Newark airport, the Indian driver from Jaipur with a degree in IT who confessed he was moonlighting as an illegal immigrant, told me he might have made the wrong decision to migrate to the US, and that Malaysia could have been a better choice for him. Asked for the reasons he valuated Malaysia so highly, he attributed Malaysia as a technologically progressive country bestowed with proven political stability.

Of course, I have also met up with many westerners who were drawn to learning about Malaysia through the filtered scopes of CNN and BBC. A middle-age tour guide whose tourist coach I boarded in the West End of London, spoke highly about the KLCC Twin Towers. She told me the Nanjing Tower in China was supposed to supercede the Malaysian landmarks in height within seven months, but didnt. I took it as a flattery, but it made me feel good as a Malaysian traveling overseas.

Closer to home, an associate of mine from Bahrain told me that his parents are compelled to pull back his siblings from the American universities and started to look for alternative institutes of higher education in Malaysia.

I could have talked about many more instances that warm my heart whenever foreigners speak good about us and our country.

However, it is saddening to note that my countrymen have failed to recognise that it is during the past 20 years with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the helm that we managed to earn international recognition from the diplomatic cocktails down to the cabin of taxi-cabs.

It is, therefore, a despicable act for my countrymen to mindlessly smear Malaysia and its leaders trying to beg attention from the foreigners who adulate our success as a progressive, sovereign nation

Putting all these personal experiences in juxtaposition, I can only resort to one conclusion that in the marvels of Malay maxim do we have something to ponder about over the notion of sovereignty. Di mana bumi dipijak, di sana langit dijunjung .

Take away their passports if my countrymen cant make good use of them overseas.