With reference to the letter Keadilan yet to prove scruples, middle ground stand , I think Wong Loke Soong is necessarily mistaken. In support of the Barisan Nasional government, the arguments put forward can broadly be condensed into the following:

  • BN cannot be toppled, therefore do not try;

  • Barisan Alternatif is inconsistent in principle, without credibility and trust; and finally

  • we should judge leaders based on their past actions, and, in this regard Anwar Ibrahim fails the test.

    • He argues that BN cannot be toppled because it has hijacked our national identity and that BN has become Malaysia, therefore to be disloyal to BN is to be disloyal to Malaysia.

    But does he know how BN has done this? Perhaps a quick review of the mainstream press will provide the answer.

    BN also cannot be toppled because of the constant and consistent gerrymandering of election boundaries and the blatant and obvious bias of the Election Commission.

    Examples abound, including the magical postal votes that saved Defence Minister Najib Abdul Razak, the last-minute ousting of the Keadilan candidate in Lembah Pantai, the hitherto unheard-of appearance of hundreds of independent candidates during Semangat 46's maiden election, the harassment of opposition candidates and arrest by the police, the bias shown by the judiciary, mainstream media...and the list goes on. I tire of recounting all these injustices.

    To put it in simpler terms, BN cannot be toppled because it doesn't play fair. Which leaves me, as a loyal Malaysian, with a simple choice. Migrate to another country or stay to try and set things right. I chose the latter.

    The second argument is that BA is inconsistent in principle, without credibility and trust.

    BA has been around for one election. That's hardly enough time to draw firm conclusions. Secondly, all leaders vacillate some of the time. It's normal. It's human. And if it emanates from either BA or BN I am quite willing to overlook the occasional vacillation in favour of judging them on their overall plan for the country.

    In this regard, DAP has been very consistent in opposing an Islamic state. Sure, there is the occasional co-operation with PAS. But I have never once heard any DAP member or leader, for any consistent period of time, renounce our secular system. Unlike BN's shocking "Oh, sorry, we are no longer a secular country" proclamation.

    Also in this regard, I have never once heard PAS renounce its ideal of an Islamic government. Nor have I once heard Keadilan renounce in any consistent manner its belief in justice, equality and rule of law. I would hardly call this inconsistent.

    As for the lack of credibility and trust in BA, let's start with the example of PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat who lives in a wooden kampung house despite being the Kelantan menteri besar. To me, this gives him all the credibility and trust he needs.

    As for Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and the wrongfully incarcerated Anwar Ibrahim, their daughter study in a local university without a scholarship. The same goes for their son who is studying in Australia.

    There is also the fact that a handful of Keadilan leaders are in jail without trial because of what they believe in. That's credibility to me.

    By comparison, what kind of leaders do BN provide us with? For starters, one of their leaders — and a menteri besar at that — was arrested for trying to smuggle millions of dollars out of Australia and who then professed his lack of English understanding led to his lack of comprehension of the laws.

    Its leaders have also been implicated in scandalous sexual offences with underaged girls, pornographic videos, as well as unlawfully allocating shares to sons-in-laws...and sons...and daughters...and who knows, maybe even the family cat! Yet, all have gotten off scot-free.

    It gave us leaders who thought nothing of threatening dissenting Malaysians with a mandi darah (bloodbath) on the streets of Kuala Lumpur but who remained strangely silent when illegal Indonesian migrants raised their flag in the country in defiance of our laws.

    Umno leaders also threatened to burn down the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall when Chinese Malaysian educationists protested the unfair labelling of them as communists by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, right after they have helped Umno gained votes at a time when the party was losing Malay support after the Anwar debacle.

    All these bullying tactics — not to mention the billion-ringgit financial scandals involving Perwaja, MAS and others — from Umno alone. Shall I go into the MCA's record of malfeasance? The co-operative scandals? Phantom members? Chinese language and cultural rights? How about the amazing business acumen of the MCA president's son? Truly men to be admired, don't you think?

    Now, how exactly does one set things right? Perhaps it is time for a change and see if it will root out the corruption, cronyism, nepotism, injustice, oppression and sheer arrogance that have become BN's hallmark.