In response to the letter 'ISA for stability' (June 27) by Aizuddin Danian, firstly, we don't have to keep an undemocratic law just because "other democratic nations" also have it. What is more important is what we want for our own country.

As citizens who love our country, don't we want it to be better than others? Tyranny in other nations doesn't justify tyranny in Malaysia. We can't change their laws, but we can change our laws, if we have the will and conscience to do it.

It has been proven time and again that the Internal Security Act (ISA) is used mainly to arrest people who are anti-BN or anti-Mahathir, not necessarily for the good of the country.

Secondly, the very existence of draconian laws like the ISA and Official Secrets Act (OSA) has made the general Malaysians so passive and so selfish in politics. Everybody is afraid to speak up against injustice because of these laws. Everybody is only interested in minding his/her own business, so that Big Brother won't find fault with him/her - i.e. won't lock them up by using the ISA and/or OSA to detain them without a fair trial. Deep down, every Malaysian knows what an ISA detention is really all about.

Thirdly, remember Lord Acton's words: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely"? When we put so much power (ISA in this case) into the hands of the ruling party, or worst still, into the hands of the ruler (Dr Mahathir Mohamad), we are putting the nation in danger. How can we ensure that he won't misuse his power just for the sake of extending his corrupted rule?

I am very disappointed that there are still people who want to stand on the side of tyranny. Perhaps they will regret it only if they themselves become victims under the very law that they uphold so fervently.