Congratulations on your appointment as the fifth prime minister of Malaysia.

As I write this letter, my mind goes back to 1976, a few weeks after the late Hussein Onn became the third prime minister of our beloved land in the wake of the untimely demise of Abdul Razak Hussein. I wrote an article at that time in The Star expressing what were basically the hopes and dreams of a young Malaysian still in his 20s as his tearful nation ushered in a new leader. Incidentally, that article appeared in the weekly column of our first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, with whom I interacted quite often when I was living in Penang in the old days.

Twenty-seven years later, I am witnessing another change at the helm of the nation. Since I am much older now and perhaps a little wiser, I will not produce another wishlist. In any case, you know very well the sort of changes, the kind of reforms, that civil society activists and intellectuals expect from a new prime minister.

Allow me instead Pak Lah to make a simple plea. Encourage our people to tell the truth to power. Telling truth to power should be the norm in a just society.

This is why the first caliph in Muslim history gave so much significance to it. In his inaugural address to his people after he was elected, Sayyidina Abu Bakr proclaimed, "Behold me, behold me, charged with the care of government. I am not the best among you; I need all your advice and all your help. If I do well, support me; if I make mistakes, counsel me. To tell the truth to a person commissioned to rule is faithful allegiance; to conceal it is treason."

It is not easy to tell the truth to power. In many societies those who have the courage to do so often pay a huge price. In fact, the powers-that-be in these societies regard those who tell the truth as traitors and treat them as such.

In Malaysia there have been occasions when those who told the truth had been imprisoned or marginalised or silenced or vilified. Leaving aside politicians and civil society activists, even senior civil servants and former judges have been castigated and condemned for telling truth to power. The case of Ahmad Noordin Zakaria the former auditor-general who investigated the BMF scandal in the early 80s and insisted that his report be made public and the harsh treatment accorded to the retired Lord President of the Supreme Court, the late Suffian Hashim, who headed an independent Election Watch group in 1990, would bear testimony to this.

And yet if telling truth to power was seen as an act of 'faithful allegiance', of loyalty to leader, it is quite conceivable that we would have been more successful in curbing elite corruption, in checking the abuse of power, in enhancing public accountability. There might have been more equitable distribution of wealth in the country. The freedom for the people to tell the truth and the readiness on the part of the ruling elite to listen to the truth might have even helped to reduce communal polarisation.

Or, to put it in another way, if the ruling elite had encouraged the people to tell the truth to power since Independence (Merdeka), isn't it possible that our institutions of governance such as the judiciary, parliament, the election commission, the police and so on would be stronger and sturdier today? Wouldn't the media have been more independent and therefore more balanced in their presentation of different points of view? Wouldn't there have been more political space and a more legitimate role for dissent? Isn't telling truth to power an act of justice in itself? Isn't it a recognition of the dignity that inheres in each and every human being?

Pak Lah, my plea to you is to take a leaf from the book of the illustrious Sayyidina Abu Bakr. By equating telling the truth to you as prime minister to 'faithful allegiance' while denouncing concealing the truth from you as 'treason' you will be helping to change the mindset of our people. Truth, honesty, sincerity and integrity will grow and develop as fundamental values in our political culture.

Needless to say, these are virtues which are associated with you in the public mind. (Incidentally, the Caliph Abu Bakr was known as 'As Siddiq', the Sincere). As someone who knows you and had worked closely with you in two committees of the National Economic Consultative Council (Mapen) in 1989, I can attest to your sincerity and your deep sense of fairness and justice. I pray that these noble attributes of the heart will remain as you assume command of the HMS Malaysia.

Finally, let me emphasise that this is not a personal plea. As you know, for some years now I have been concentrating upon international affairs. Telling truth to global power has become as important, perhaps more important, than telling truth to national power. This global focus in my work is vital as I continue to struggle with millions of other human beings for a just world - which is the only world that will ensure our collective survival as a species.

My plea Pak Lah is on behalf of someone else. It is on behalf of the young - the generation that is in their 20s as I was 27 years ago. They are speaking up. They want to be heard. They have their hopes. They have their dreams. Please listen to them as they tell truth to power.

I pray that Allah will guide and protect you as you discharge your responsibilities to the people of this cherished nation of ours.