I write in response to Shukri Yusof's letter entitled 'Kiasu and the pseudo-Americans' (Aug 30) and wish to assure the writer that there are at least two Malaysians who can distinguish fact from fiction.

He asks why Malaysians who study or work abroad hardly have anything good to say about Malaysia. This is a valid question and one which I, too, am interested in. He further wonders if they (Malaysians studying or living abroad) actually mingle and interact with the populace.

He further contends that, if they did, then they would come to the realisation that all is not too well with America, particularly with regard to police brutality, employment, the health service, public transport and foreign policy, to name a few.

I, too, work abroad. The reasons why we kiasu Malaysians have hardly anything good to say about Malaysia is that there is hardly anything good to say, politics-wise at least. Sure, we have the best food, great weather, fantastic beaches. We also have the tallest building and longest keropok lekor .

But in addition to the above, we also had Operation Lalang in the 1987, the shutting down of The Star and other newspapers critical of the government during that time, removal of Supreme Court judges and quashing of any semblance of judicial independence, the jailing of Anwar Ibrahim, use of a ridiculous amount of force by the police against peaceful gatherings of unarmed citizens, arbitrary arrests under the ISA ... and these are just coming from the top of my head. Imagine what I could produce if I did painstaking research.

Live abroad, meet Malaysians who live and work or study abroad and you will learn exactly how much everyone misses home, how much everyone loves Malaysia. In fact, all my Malaysian friends here are celebrating Hari Kebangsaan .

Further, I can assure the writer, that when you live abroad in small kelompoks you inevitably have to mingle with the locals.

Our criticism of our government comes from the pain we feel when we see how the Barisan Nasional is simply wrecking our country and the institutions which protect the citizen. There is, of course, no need to mention again the pilfering of EPF funds and use of taxpayers' monies to bail out the favoured people.

Of course there are always the excuses. Corruption exists in the US, therefore it is permissible for it to exist in Malaysia. There are incompetent politicians, abuses of power, use of unreasonable force, etc. in other countries, so all these things are also permissible in Malaysia.

What about genocide? It exists in other countries, too, so let's go out and promote genocide in Malaysia. And since there are Islamic fundamentalist movements in other countries, shouldn't we be promoting and supporting the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia?

Perhaps it's time we look beyond the Barisan Nasional propaganda.