I was disappointed by the edification value (none) and hysterial value (lots) of the letter by Sick And Tired .

Political actors like Umno Youth often do things like instigating a police raid o­n their detractors' offices, as had happened to malaysiakini , for their own reasons which have nothing to do with the wishes of the community they supposedly represent.

I feel Sick and Tired is making assumptions in his letter with no proper discussion. I can understand individual frustration but it is bad form to not think things through.

In order to bring the level of debate in the letters column up to scratch in malaysiakini , I strongly recommend readers especially those with an intellectual bent to read up o­n two texts.

The first is the definitive text o­n race relations and ethnic politicking, Ethnic groups in conflict by Prof Donald L Horowitz (University California Press, 1985), an absolutely brilliant and readable analysis. The other is The roots of race relations in Malaysia by Collin ER Abraham (Insan Press 1997).

The main reason I read malaysiakini is to get a balanced opinion, and hopefully a closer approximation to the truth.

With a more informed mind, I hope I will not be as easily influenced by local ethnic political players who I must admit are world-class in their manipulation of communal issues.