When Alvin Tan and Ali Abdul Jalil first became ‘prominent’, I tried to learn more about them.

They were both outlandish and abrasive - the oddballs so to speak.  But in most easy-going democracies, all these attributes and tirades would have gone unnoticed and they would not have attained the ‘celebrity status’ they now enjoyed.

However, for the ‘wrongs’ these two have committed, the authorities have relentlessly pursued, persecuted and prosecuted them with whatever statutes available in Malaysia’s arsenal.  

Ali was repeatedly detained for similar charges in Selangor and Johor before Amnesty International took notice of him and assisted him to gain asylum.   

Since their ‘escape’ from Malaysia, I noticed that their postings in the Facebook have become viler, vulgar and explicit.

I wonder what objective was served by being so uncouth. Whatever messages they intended to convey were probably lost. I believe under normal circumstances, many Malaysians would have become very agitated with them.

However, be that as it may, the current wrangling between them and the authorities is conveying messages more than meet the eye.

Surely they have their grievances and resentments suffered in the hands of our enforcement agencies.

Surely they have their disagreements with our leaders and establishments, including royalty. Surely they must have felt their freedom was unjustifiably curtailed by reactionary and conservative forces out to break them.

So far only Umno ministers and former ministers (and perhaps with some from BN) were making noise against them.  

So far, only the government was condemning and taking action against them. But what about other Malaysians? Do you find average Malaysians condemning them as vehemently as government ministers?    

I did not hear opposition politicians condemning them although these two have been very critical of them as well. I did not see Malaysians in general condemning them although the two were direct and vulgar at condemning our leaders and our institutions.

So what do all these mean? Are Malaysians in general supportive of them? Are Malaysians sympathetic of them? Do Malaysians find voices and outlets through these two? Are Malaysians angrier with our leaders and institutions than these two?  

Lots of messages conveyed in silence

I can’t answer all these with certainty. Suffice to say sometimes lots of messages are conveyed in silence or in proxy.

Perhaps it is true as someone has suggested that it is undignified for our ministers and former ministers to engage with these two insignificant people endlessly.

It is even more damaging to issue threats when our ministers are impotent to carry them out. Former information minister Zainuddin Maidin said it was Alvin, (Datuk Seri) Anwar (Ibrahim) and football hooligans that caused Malaysia its dignity.

How wrong our former minister could have been. Alvin, Anwar or football hooligans did not cause embarrassment to Malaysia, it was our inability to deal with them fairly, professionally and ethically that is causing us our dignity internationally.