I refer to the Malaysiakini report Youth dies in police custody .

Another youth dies in police custody and for yet another time it happens to be an Indian youth.

If my memory serves me right, most of the time this thing happens it is an Indian youth.

Can we have the statistics from the police of the number of people who have died in custody and can we have a breakdown by race? If the majority who have died in police custody are Indian youth then there is a case to be worried about.

The Indians form a minority community in this country so why is it that the majority of those who die in police custody are Indian youths?

Of course, the MIC will now have an opportunity to raise this in parliament, and, of course, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz can stand up in parliament and shout ‘Shut up, you racist, sit down bloody racist’ as he has done before.

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar will then say it was not the fault of the police as there is no need to investigate as there is no wrongdoing. Furthermore, the MIC leader who raises this issue will be suspended by the house.

The difference between the BN and the Pakatan Rakyat is that in BN, you play by Umno’s rules and Umno’s rules only. Umno dictates, everybody else follows and Nazri is the appointed watchdog.

In Pakatan it is different. In the run-up to the recent Kuala Terengganu by-election, DAP chairperson Karpal Singh brought up some very controversial issues including the hudud matter with PAS

Notwithstanding the fact that the BN tried to capitalise on this to create disunity within Pakatan, the opposition coalition stood united saying that they are free to disagree with each another.

Pakatan is free to bring up in the open issues that affect the people without fear of being suspended or dismissed from their party on unreasonable grounds.

They represent the people and not their own selfish motives, a far cry from what the BN MPs have to offer.

So now, if Umno is looking for a ‘wow factor’, they will have to ‘wow’ themselves first by bringing up the issues of corruption and bad governance

Haul up those who hide behind the power they wield and bring them to justice, that my dear friends in Umno, is the ‘wow factor’, not handouts.