After the last general election, I (and many others, I believe) had high hopes that our new prime minister would make major changes to the cabinet by retiring those who have been marred by scandals and various misdeeds.

The public, however, was sadly disappointed when the final list was released.

Now, with the AP issue seriously undermining the integrity of the minister concerned and with another minister being suspended, I certainly hope that our PM has now found the right time and courage to purge the cabinet of deadwood as well as those who do no more than utter racist comments and derogatory remarks in Parliament instead of concentrating on improving their ministries' efficiency and doing their best to enhance race relations in our country.

These errant ministers are doing a great disservice to the government and in the process only serve to embarrass the leadership. The next general election is really not that far away and the rakyat is getting impatient.