I almost fell off my chair in disbelief when I read the malaysiakini report ' AI welcomes release, raps ISA ' about the deputy home minister who said that "those released should be grateful to the government...".

Does he realise how idiotic the statement is? If that statement was correctly reported, it demonstrates that those in power could not care less about the issue of morality, the rights and wrongs of things, but are rigidly fixated along detailed bureaucratic lines.

I can hardly think of reasons why anyone should be grateful to the government for releasing him or her from ISA detention. It is the government which should be grateful to the rakyat for their silence, something that the government takes for granted and interprets to mean acquiescence.

No, no, at least this one rakyat and voter is fuming mad at the sheer arrogance of those whom he has helped put in power. No more. It is about time that we elect and vote those with some ounce of decency, credibility and guts to govern us.