Tajjuddin says in respect of the way that police treated a host of Indian expatriate workers at the Palm Court condominium: "People who don't like Malaysia can leave and foreigners can return to their country. We Malaysians will not stand in their way".

What he does not appreciate is that those foreigners - for whom he can hardly hide his contempt - are the lucky o­nes, for two reasons. First, they can go elsewhere. Second, they are fortunate that their governments are willing to fight for and defend their rights.

Alas, we Malaysians are not so fortunate. When the police abuse us, in the way that they have over the last few years, we have no where to go and our government neither fights for nor defends our rights, given that it put up with the police's misdeeds.