The shameful incident of a Chinese detainee being asked to ear squats in the nude is just the tip of the iceberg. In view of the oppressive nature of several laws, police have a field day in sadistic behaviour. When the former IGP inflicted the infamous black eye on Anwar Ibrahim, he knew at that time that his political master would protect him. Until the international press highlighted it.

When the police harassed the Indian IT expatriates in Brickfields, the Indian government retaliated. When the mistreated Chinese tourists protested, the Chinese government backed them up. All in all, Malaysia only backtracked when a Big Brother country came into the picture.

What happenes to the thousands of Bangladeshis, Thais, Burmese, Indonesians etc who are harassed daily? Nobody bothered. Why? Because there would be no political or economic fallout.

The root cause of police brutality is simply explained by Lord Anton's famous words, "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Added to this dilemma, Malaysia has not seen a change of government since independence in 1957. As a result, civil servants have to do the "right things" to please their bosses.

Even politicians are mere political eunuchs. Imagine, Labour party MPs can even vote against Prime Minister Tony Blair in Britain. Try that in Malaysia a poor MIC leader had to find out the hard way without 'gaji' for a few months.

Abuses of police power are just the symptoms of a sick government elected by an equally sick society. We need the cure. Change must be holistic and in a total package. Ideally, we need a change of government with a two-party system.

Unfortunately, many don't trust PAS with its Taliban leanings. It appears strategic that Anwar Ibrahim should lead a moderate coalition comprising Keadilan and DAP as the pillars that will include parties representing the minorities.