Anita Gupta made one fatal error in her letter entitled 'Good reason to be silent' (Sept 5). She forgot that we are living in a country where the mass media is totally controlled by the ruling party to blare the 'good' news and silence the 'bad' news from its point of view.

Has there ever been, on the local TV or radio, any decent coverage on the mountain of high-level scandals that have plagued this country?

Have the newspapers ever published any discourse from the opposition criticising the government?

Do Malaysians know that Malaysia's rankings in all international indices have slipped very badly in all fields in recent years, whether it is in the administration of justice, human rights, economic competitiveness or education?

Do Malaysians know that foreign investors' confidence in this country is at an all-time low due to the country's massive corruption and cronyism, non-transparency in the government's financial dealings, poor corporate governance and an utterly discredited judiciary?

Because of all these, new foreign investment to this country has dwindled to a pitiful level. Poor political leadership is the dominant factor causing Malaysia's current economic malaise.

While the writer's ears must have been drowned by Mahathir's voice, has she ever heard the voices of Fadzil Noor, Lim Kit Siang or Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail?

When the writer does not see or read outcries and condemnation of the injustices and cruelty inflicted by the government on the people on the local TV and press, it does not mean "the great majority of Malaysians (the so-called silent majority) is content not to rock the boat" as she claimed. It simply means that the controlled mass media do not present, or present unfairly, such news of outcries and condemnation from the people.

The mass media in this country fall into two categories. In the first category, the media are owned either directly or indirectly by the ruling party or government, and these media routinely mislead the public by exaggeration, distortion, omission and outright lies. Almost all the media fall into this category.

In the second category, the media are not owned by the ruling party or government, but are completely cowed to report the news according to the wishes of the ruling party.

There is no third category of independent news media. (Internet websites are not considered mass media as its usage among the masses is still in infancy, and party organs like the Harakah are also not considered mass media, as these are banned from being circulated to the public and are prohibited from publishing more than twice a month.)

As a result, many people in this country are either living in a fool's paradise, or have been stifled into being deaf and dumb.

This is the tragedy that befalls Malaysia today. And this is in sharp contrast to the Philippines and Indonesia, both of which have been rescued from disastrous presidencies recently, thanks to the presence of a vibrant free press in those countries.