Over the last month, reading letters regarding ISA on this site has left me both amused and frustrated - well, usually more frustrated than amused. I am probably kicking a dead horse here but let me refer to the Silent Majority's ('ISA should not be abolished', July 11). Sometimes, the silent 'majority' should just remain silent.

ISA, as a measure against the communist threat, made sense then because of a few reasons. First, we were fighting an insidious enemy which was making inroads into a yet solidified governing structure.

Second, the threat 'was' real and dangerous enough to justify severe stop-gap measures such as the ISA. The cost-benefit analysis was that we as people will sacrifice a little civil liberties to ensure communism does not take root in the country. It has certainly outlived its purpose.

I have no bones with keeping the peace in Malaysia. The question is if ISA is the appropriate mechanism?

Yes, it has been doing its job for the last few decades, but at what cost? The people have fallen into this general malaise of apathy because of the ISA threat. Discourse (against the incumbent government) is discouraged because of the fear of being locked up.

We have become a nation of accepting what the politicians dish out, we close our eyes to cover-ups and conflicts of interests, and the few of us who felt strongly enough to rock the boat are sure to be harassed under the guise of endangering the country's stability.

That's pure doo-doo! If the government thinks a few intelligent debates will topple a country, then maybe the country really isn't in that good a shape to start with.

I mean, let's face it. The only simple reason why ISA is still around is because it is the ultimate nullifier for those in power. Without 'sufficient' judiciary oversight. ISA is simply a whacker, not unlike how the mafia operates - through fear, intimidation and disappearance of warm bodies.

We say we live in a democracy. How many times did you find yourselves lowering your voice while criticising the government in public? Why is that?

Sometimes, true robust democracy isn't just an ideology, it's also the freedom to examine the status quo. Democracy is not a goal, it's an ever-improving process of balancing the good of the society and the rights of the individual.

The ISA propaganda has impressed upon us the dogma that society is more important than the individual. Well, that's mostly true unless you are the individual.