How arrogant of MGG Pillai to assume that out of 22 million or so Malaysians, only he has not been brainwashed into blindly believing that the Western point of view is always the correct one and that American and European lives are worth more than other less well-televised people.

Mr Pillai is not the only non-TV watching person, nor is he unique for being an avid reader, nor is he the only person who enjoys a good discussion or the company of his own mind. CNN, CNBC and all the other acronyms are not all-pervasive and the public are not compelled to watch what everything that they put out.

We can choose not to watch. We can choose to disagree. We are not all blindly receptive sponges, soaking up everything that oozes out of these and other news providers; other people can and do think for themselves.

This superior rubbishing of criticism and dismissal of all critics as Western-media brainwashed parrots is something that we have seen before in Malaysia. Many other Malaysians also use this tactic, and MGG Pillai keeps very good company here.

Has Mr Pillai ever considered that perhaps his last few articles were not very well received not because of "Western brainwashing", but because some people disagreed with his point of view?