All this while, I was trying to keep an open mind on the controversy surrounding television sports newscaster Ras Adiba Radzi and her treatment for paralysis in Australia. When I read the story on her impending return , I find it really hard to believe that Ras has been totally honest on her medical condition, treatment in Australia and the use of funds she had received.

If she doesn't want to be penalised or branded as a fraud, she should come clean with how her money was spent. Also since her case has been widely publicised, she should make public the chronicles of this whole affair.

Why the difference in stories regarding her operation, tests, rehabilitation, etc.? Spinal operations need to be planned right? I am sure the doctors in Australia would not decide on these kinds of operations overnight unless it is a matter of life and death.

What did she mean when she said that her operation is too technical to explain? We Malaysians do not live on trees anymore so try explaining and let us be the judge of its complexity.

Since she has exhausted all the funds, how is she going to pay for her rehabilitation at Pantai Medical, a private hospital that charges more compared with a government hospital like Hospital Kuala Lumpur? More public donations, or is it going to be from Yayasan Negara?

I find it appalling that she has decided not to disclose the details of her expenditure to the public. Why shouldn't she? In fact the public should demand it from her as they forked out the money for her well-being.

Ras should not feel proud that her controversy was "a blessing in disguise" since it led to the set-up of Yayasan Negara. Her whole affair has taken away the rights of any Malaysian to seek help openly via public channels and also the rights of a donor to give to whom they choose. It will not be long before cronyism and nepotism seep into Yayasan Negara which will once again make the poor and needy suffer. We have seen it happen before with other public funds.

If she wants to be a heroine for the wheelchair-bound, perhaps she should regain public trust first. If not, she is going to do more damage than good to those to whom wheelchairs are a part of life.

If she has nothing to hide, then she should come clean. If not, she shouldn't expect a heroine's welcome home.