Rashid's letter is a statement of his frustration ('Stand up, be counted and be proud of it', May 14). I can empathise with his feelings. Malaysia's transit from a developing country to an industrialised one is not easy on the population. The event causes strains and tribulations that can test a population's spirit.

Malaysia is not alone. She also has good company from the past. No nation has developed easily. There have been lots of suffering and anguish along the way for each one. One part of the suffering and anguish is the public demonstration. The champion of democracy, the United States of America, began with a demonstration that turned tragic, the Boston Massacre.

Other public demonstrations before the American Revolution turned tragically violent (for some of the demonstrators and soldiers), but the 'cause' went on anyway and here we are with a world power championing freedom of assembly by the public without any controls other than to say the right to this assembly is for 'peaceful' gatherings. It's in the US Constitution under its Bill of Rights.

Fair enough, but how many of these demonstrations are actually 'peaceful'? All one has to do is take a good look around the world today and yesterday and one will see a scarcity of 'peace' at places of public demonstrations. True, there are some fine examples of peaceful assembly, but generally, these demonstrations and gatherings have a tendency to turn violent.

One item to note is that the demonstrations in sponsorship of American liberty before the American Revolution began - and I would presume many others that occurred as well - had little to do with human liberty. Business motivated these demonstrations, the globalisation of the day in foreign trade.

The writer appears suspicious of Malaysian leadership (possibly cronies, bailouts, et al), and I would tend to agree somewhat with his suspicions, but that is how life in the world really is. It is never fair, it is rarely altruistic, platonic, etc., and "them that has gets" one way or another. We can find that kind of rot in all countries, western, eastern, north or south.

The violence, demonstrations can foster is not mere street violence. One who advocates support for these assemblies should understand the potential inconvenience a 'peaceful' assembly can cause the general public. I am certain that no one wants to endure further delay in traffic on KL's highways and byways just because someone has a beef and gets in the street about it, no matter how peaceful the assembly really is. I consider extreme traffic jams a form of violence.

As a long-term visitor here and one who has had experience with crowd control through tear gas canisters and M-14 rifles, I have to support Malaysia's ban on assemblies without a police permit. It is a sensible rule for living in Malaysia.

However, there is an alternative to the necessity for public venting of frustration on the streets and in public areas. And this alternative is very simple: Write to your member of parliament about your 'beef' and keep a record of it. Write to your local state assembly representative as well. A note to the respective minister in charge is one more step. Share it with your friends and associates to generate support at the grassroots level. Create a groundswell of opinion no government official can ignore unless he or she simply wants to fade from future office holding.

I can hear the writer's response now: "Foolish", he will say. No, it's not foolish. It does require patience and determination and good record-keeping. But in the end it can work to influence government action. In fact, democratic governments respond best to this kind of petition. Governments will do their level best to malign the objectives of public demonstrations and frustration will only accelerate to unhealthy levels.

How to write these leaders? Good question. When I polled the Malaysian employees in my office they said they were not exactly certain how to write their legislators (but they knew they could). I showed them that in about five minutes I could write a letter to my US Congress representative or senator and have a response in 24 hours. Did and done over the Internet. The response was, indeed, automated, but most Internet sites did state I would receive a written response to my home of record address. That response will be somewhat automated as well, but a direct response, nonetheless. You cannot be too angry, if you are a reasonable person, when your 'beef' generates an acknowledgment.

If the reason I contact my congressmen or congresswomen is really earthshaking and I am a member of a large group, that group can really mount a letter-writing campaign to get a leader's attention. If my 'beef' or requirement gains support from others, legislation will follow. If enough people think 'my way' and that legislator does nothing about my request, possibly enough of us will get together at the ballot box and get rid of him or her at the next election (two to six years depending on the office).

This avenue of approach can help relieve the frustration that the writer and others experience with Malaysian politics and policies. It is the sane choice. I feel the Malaysian government should sponsor a web page that would list the legislative districts, etc. with complete information on how to contact every member of the legislative process from the prime minister to the dog catcher.

Malaysiakini could also help direct inquiries to that web page and one could copy his or her letter to malaysiakini . Hot topics might earn public coverage. Public coverage might generate more letters and opinions to the legislators. Truly, a move to better democracy in Malaysia. And on a higher plane than public demonstrations.

If letter writing is not enough and a public display of passion is the only cure, maybe the government can establish a place for such demonstrations, establish a permit process, collect a reasonable deposit against the costs of keeping the peace and cleaning up, etc. The subject of the demonstration should not matter, be it politically sensitive or whatever barrier the government seems to feel it must raise to prevent such demonstrations.

Public demonstrations have no other objective than attracting attention to a subject most folks have no interest in. Otherwise, why get in the street? Public demonstrations have the potential to hold the public hostage to other's agendas by causing inconvenience to daily life. I don't need that in my life and I would think most others would feel the same way.

I sincerely believe that none of us living in or visiting Malaysia need to be the victims of a public demonstration be it violent or non-violent. Malaysian streets can barely handle the traffic volume they endure today. I surely would not want to see further traffic congestion over public passion in the streets.

So, maybe two good alternatives to the level of frustration the writer feels is a combination of communication with government leaders and a public place to hold public outpourings of feelings in a 'peaceful' way. Hopefully the government can work on them. The sooner the better.

Standing up, being counted and being proud of it should not include disrupting the public's daily life unnecessarily.