"Freedom has always been a very expensive thing," said Martin Luther King Jr.

One reason I enjoy browsing through the Malaysiakini website is that both accolades and brickbats are featured. You provide a forum for free public discussion, so lacking in our society and culture.

Whilst I empathise with[#1] Down with whiners, ingrates[/#] (Nov 22) and his/her current discontent with reading brickbats, I do not view the challenge to us as inspiring. We may be the envy of the Third world but we have a lot of room for improvement if we are to aspire to move from Third to First world recognition - and then where?

Hence, to me it is not an issue of gratitude but ambition and attitude. We must not take criticism negatively, however badly put they are: they indicate discontent or ignorance which need clarification.

And, to clarify truthfully, we need transparency and integrity both of which are rare at the moment.

Absolute justice is the aspiration of every right-thinking human being, but, yet, in post-modernistic times, most societies (even the First world democracies) are devoid of it - there will always be an individual or a group of individuals who will have a differing view.

I fully agree that the Maslow triangle is only a reality when basic needs are met. This is exactly why people (including myself) whinge and whine.

Why should there be the tallest towers in the world and a F1 racing circuit in a developing country when there are still some people who live below the poverty line?

To those who instituted these mega-projects, their perception may be different - they themselves may have reached the higher part of Maslow's triangle and believe that they have done things to empower those who have not.

But these people have not taken heed, or have made informed choices not to accept that status (complacency?) so they are perceived to have been 'left behind'.

Yet to others, these are the ruthless opportunists who are keeping others from reaching the pinnacle of Maslow's triangle.

In my work as a doctor I see this quite often. People who suffer from chronic intractable pain cannot and will not accept the abstract concept of 'quality of life' until their pain and other symptoms are well-controlled.

For example, it is useless to have hospice movements blare out their desire for patient and family 'quality of life' when the basic needs of pain and symptom control are poorly met by the medical profession! Similarly, how can we reasonably expect a family, struggling to survive on one income, to be able to attend and appreciate a classical concert by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra?

Both sides may be right, but the essence of a true democracy is that there is a forum where every citizen has an equal right to voice their opinion freely, unhindered and unintimidated. There should be room for healthy and mature dissent.

Unhealthy dissent only occurs when there is repression and intimidation of those who dissent.

The country has been launched into an exciting trajectory. I am sure some of those in power realise it too.

This double edged sword can and will cause misunderstandings and we are all at risk while riding on the trajectory. While we are on the way there, there will be disagreements and opposition to anything and everything proposed.

But the essence is this: we have a forum to whinge, whine, to congratulate, to pat ourselves on the back - and to rebutt and disagree. In other words, we have choices.

Some may not wish to ride on the trajectory and their desires should be respected. Others who ride on it too fervently should not be allowed to silence their critics who feel that they are being too 'opportunistic'.

The important point is that once we have the complete freedom to make informed choices we will move further towards a progressive democracy.

But, first we have to eradicate non-transparency (ingrained in all Asian cultures), parochialism, paternalism, authoritarianism, crony-nepotism, bigotry and corruption.

Do we wish to crash and return to our (romantic) past or do we wish to look beyond the horizon to accept the uncertainty ahead? The choice is still ours.

L.F. Ng