Recently the Japanese defence minister, Fumio Kyuma, resigned following his controversial remarks suggesting the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were inevitable. Over here in Malaysia, on the other hand, such attitudes are becoming increasingly rare, if not impossible to find amongst our politicians and civil servants.

Indeed, numerous examples can be found of the opposite kind, from the now famous line attributed to a certain minister blaming repeated defaults in infrastructure projects to "acts of God", to a backbencher asking government officials to "close one eye", and most recently, to a senior ministry official issuing directives barring private broadcasting channels from airing speeches of opposition leaders in clear contravention of communications and multimedia laws of the country.

Why is this always happening here in Malaysia right under our very noses and the protagonists seem to always be getting away with it? The reason is obvious: there are no serious adverse political repercussions for such actions over here in Malaysia, thus such incidents are in most cases conveniently swept under the carpet and eventually forgotten by the masses.

Or even if they are remembered, in order to preserve the status quo and tried-and-tested formula of success in governing this multi-racial country of ours, the same politicians and political parties are usually assured of success at each federal and state elections.

Perhaps we should seriously consider reintroducing local council elections so that voters have an alternative means of safely exercising their voting rights according to their conscience and providing the necessary signals and checks and balances without fear of tipping the balance of power or changing the status quo at the state and federal levels.

The alternative is our nation continuing down this dubious path and sending all sorts of wrong signals to our leaders and civil servants that they can apparently break laws and not be held accountable for their actions and worse still to our future generations that they are living in a society lacking in a strong code of honour and double standards in application of the law.

Why do you think Malaysians seem to have very little hesitation in breaking laws such as littering and speed limits in comparison to other countries like Australia, or that our local councils continue to approve high-rise projects at hillsides and already congested neighbourhoods despite guidelines and indeed laws to the contrary?