I am most disappointed to read that Kedah Mentri Besar Syed Razak Syed Zin was rapped over a PAS-linked seminar. This shows how blind and ignorant some people can be, especially when they are too tied to political games.

I must firstly say that PUM is a well-respected NGO. It is not a political party. Thus, it has the right to use government facilities.

Nevertheless, we are talking about Malaysia where everything, unfortunately, is politicised. Thus, PUM may have been seen as a supporter of PAS.

But there is nothing wrong in allowing an organisation known to support the opposition to use government facilities. In fact, it is the responsibility of the government to provide such facilities to the opposition. This is the most basic practice in democracy.

Take the British government for example. Many members of the House of Lords (equivalent to Dewan Negara) are appointed by the current Labour government. Yet Labour regularly appoints members of the Conservative party into the House of Lords. They are there to provide checks and balances.

Members of the opposition parties in the UK are free to organise events in the Parliament building, and I have had the pleasure of attending quite a few of those events. At local levels, opposition parties regularly use local government facilities to hold their events. Never have these been prevented by the government simply because they are organised by the opposition.

When will we Malaysians stop being so ignorant? There is a big difference between 'the government' and 'the party'. Indeed, Syed Razak should be applauded for being very brave to break the tradition. Is he the only bright person in Umno?

And I pray that PAS officials in Kelantan and Terengganu will follow Syed Razak's example.