Progress is about change for the better. The Malaysian pitfall is the refusal of politicians to change when it is clear change is badly needed.

Money politics in the recent Umno elections are disturbing. When threats against their party's own high officials accompany the bribery, it is frightening. The stakes must be high for people to pay for positions which they desperately covet, positions which, after all, we would consider merely as stepping stones in enabling them to serve their party and the nation better.

Corruption is as problematic for Umno as it is for the government and the country. If the country's major political party is plagued by money politics, surely the echelons of government will not be spared.

Can we trust those who are prepared to undermine their own party leader's stand against money politics in positions that require integrity?

The survival of democracy demands that we keep politicians honest. When we expose and criticise their faults and when we oppose their wrongdoings, we are merely doing what we should be doing as patriotic and concerned citizens.

Unless people want a corrupt society, they must not tolerate or appear to condone any form of corruption. This is the ugly face of democracy where money politics and vote-buying take a different form. Money corrupts and those who have lots of it corrupt absolutely especially during election time.

It seems power is not earned but bought. It breeds a selfish electorate. Voters are encouraged to think in terms of 'what's in it for me?' rather than what's good for the country or what is better for someone else in greater need.

All politicians are guilty of electoral bribery when they resort to pork-barrelling. But in most countries, unlike in Malaysia, the winning party is not vindictive or acts unjustly after an election. It does not punish an opposition-held electorate by withholding development. It can't because it will get into serious trouble and the people will have none of it.

For this reason, I can't overemphasise the urgent need for a free and independent media whose role is to provide accurate news and a forum for checking on the government and others. Sadly even in developed countries, media companies and newspaper editors have their own political bias and agendas.

The only safeguard is uncensored news possible only with an unfettered media. Let the media check the media with the government not interfering. Newspapers should not have to be licensed.

The furore over a comment in a blogger's website and threats of ISA sanction reveal the level of intolerance in a closely censored society.

The problem with money politics is that the voters themselves are the losers when politicians offer sweeteners and unrealistic electoral bribes that can't be properly financed. Politicians after all have no enforceable contractual obligation to carry out what they pledged during their electioneering.

They have a habit of breaking their promises and the public have short memories.