Until recently, I had always assumed that Manjit Bhatia 'was' a Malaysian or has a Malaysian wife. Otherwise, for the life of me I can't imagine why he finds it fit to criticise us in the manner that he has whilst at the same time telling us how great it is in his 'heavenly' country.

I have no problems with him giving his two cents worth for his observations are often astute, but I feel his tone is too condescending for a foreigner and his criticisms can be construed as having more to do with showcasing his superior intellect and academic skills rather than from any sense of concern, at least for our country. When we criticise our leaders and government, it is for the love of our country. Bhatia, well, has other reasons to do so.

In defence of us 'hopeless' Malaysians I would like to state that ours is a fledgling democracy, just turning 50 and I think it is unfair to compare us to the other great democracies which have evolved over centuries.

Sure they have provided us with their working models but we are also different in many ways and mistakes will be made and lessons learnt before we can truly grow. Anyway, that is what we all tell ourselves when our loved ones do not listen and choose to find out the hard way. We need a lot of patience, tolerance plus a healthy dose of optimism and, of course, the right leaders.

Over the years we will evolve in order to survive, and fora like malaysiakini can help hasten the realisation and the process towards political maturity. Views such as Bhatia's are always welcome if they are meant to spur us to act for a common goal, but they rings hollow if they are not straight from the heart especially so from an outsider who has not and cannot experience the unique highs and lows of what it's like to be a Malaysian.