Looking at some of the letters, in particular Between a dream and a nightmare... and I weep for Malaysia , I think the writers are being too pessimistic about the future of Malaysia.

Indeed yes, after losing a two-thirds majority, the BN government is in a shambles and is fighting for its survival, while the contradictions within have resulted in the factions within jostling for power and rule of the country which is rudderless and lacking in direction.

This is strange and shows a lack of maturity of the ruling party, since many governments in countries with a more established democratic tradition have been able to survive, even with a simple majority like the razor-thin margin than the BN got.

In fact, they would be very happy to get the majority which the BN got, which is a tad short of two-thirds. Many have been able to rule, even when it has the largest minority in parliament.

With the gains by the opposition and setback for the BN resulting from economic issues and despite the mainstream media spouting pro-government propaganda, most people, including those without Internet access, know that things are not right.

They feel the pinch of the rising cost of living, the deteriorating economy and so on, despite whatever pro-BN propaganda the mainstream media, whether in print, on TV or on the Internet, feeds them.

So if the economy takes a turn for the worse, unemployment is rampant and so on, the only thing that can happen is that the voters - including those in the traditional Barisan Nasional heartland - will vote against the government in future elections.

History has shown that the most landmark political changes have taken place at times of economic hardship, from the French and Russian revolutions, to the coming to power of Hitler and Mussolini, the fall of Marcos, of Suharto and even with the serial defeats of Britian's New Labour Party, the most recent one being in its hitherto safe seat of Glasgow East.

As long as the economy is performing well and people feel economically secure, issues such as human rights, free speech, free press, corruption, scandals and so on will have minimal effect on the fortunes of the ruling party but changes will happen when the economy is doing badly.

The situation in Malaysia will have to get worse before it gets better and what we see happening now is the diarrhoea, in which the spoiled food gets expelled from the body, so it's a rough ride for now.

Some hope that the Malay Rulers will act to exert their control on the country, to stabilise the situation and hasten the cleansing process but do they have the powers to go that far?

Remember Malaysia is not Thailand.