vox populi big thumbnail ‘You have said you use the ISA after careful thought. So send the ‘reign tree' to Kamunting so that it reverts to being a rain tree and does not continue to ‘disturb the peace.'

On Simply treemendous!

Maniam Sankar: Dear home minister, as the troublesome PKR guys in Ipoh try to make their ordinary rain tree into a ‘reign tree' (good one, Dean!) for themselves and thereby confuse the poor rakya t, I have heard a suggestion you may wish to implement.

As you have said many times, you use the ISA after careful thought.

Could you please think about getting an ISA order on the ‘reign tree' to have it sent to Kamunting so that it reverts to being a rain tree and does not continue to disturb the peace?

That way it will also be out of sight of the Perak Sultan who can then see his rakyat smiling more, surely.

On New face Manikumar is PKR candidate for Bkt Selambau

Vastu Raman: I believe PKR have selected the right candidate.

Manikumar is educated and younger then MIC's Ganesan. He shall be able to perform as a YB and an exco.

The most important message here is that PKR have a more younger, energetic and educated leader compared with BN/MIC.

Ganesan was not selected as a BN candidate in 2008 because his poor performance in Lunas. Suddenly, BN/MIC are now saying he performed well and will take care of the Bukit Selambau community.

Umno Merbok is against him and even some MIC members demonstrated against Ganesan.

Do your best Manikumar and I'm confident the people will stand by you. But don't ever forget the grassroots once you win.

If they can make you win they too can make you lose. Alwaya give due respect to ‘People's Power'.

On MACC: 'Elements' show Perak speaker abused his powers

Jing Yi Lim: Has our MACC chief commissioner Ahmad Said Hamdan not learned his lesson yet?

It was precisely a month ago when he publicly announced that MACC had strong evidence against Selangor MB Abdul Khalid Ibrahim over the abuse of power in the ‘car and cows' issue.

He was then criticised and condemned as such a premature announcement was deemed to have deviated from the standard procedures.

The people who had high hopes for this newly- minted anti-corruption body were utterly disappointed.

Things don't get better but worse this time. Ahmad apparently intends to make known that the MACC is doing its job so even before the commission wraps up its investigation, he revealed that there were ‘elements'.

So is this how the MACC combats graft and corruption in our country?

It seems to me that the commission holds a total opposite view to the folks on the street because the whole nation was thrilled when Sivakumar exercised his right to suspend those seven people.

Or is the MACC trying to show that the Umno disciplinary committee is not the only body attempting to kick out unethical and unscrupulous politicians from our political circle?

But the only thing I can see is what the Umno disciplinary committee has just done - selective prosecution.

Ahmad, why not conduct your job in a professional manner?

If the result of the investigations show that Sivakumar had abused his power, all you need to do is to pass the case to the attorney-general.

On S'gor cabinet's asset declaration 'laughable'

Yuvan: I too saw it as wise move and a bold step by the Selangor government when they decided to declare the assets of their MB and exco.

Now I am thoroughly disappointed and also angry. Yes, the asset declaration by the Selangor government is ‘laughable'.

It is a shame and nothing more than a political gimmick. The MB's explanation that ‘the state is unable to provide security to the excos and there is no insurance policy' is really absurd.

Are the excos super rich and showing off their wealth lavishly? If that is the case, then they are not fit to be in politics and in public service.

They will have to spend a bulk of their precious time guarding their wealth and will not have much time left for the people they were elected to serve.

On the other hand, if they are not super rich (or extremely wealthy), reasons like security and insurance are a farce and they should have the courage to declare their assets.

I agree that security may be a concern but people in public service should have the maturity and means to handle the situation.

Politicians and people in public service should have the strength to ‘rise to the occasion' and display a clear sense of confidence and trust.

They cannot ‘hide' their assets forever and expect the public to go on supporting them blindly.

On Mass protest planned against police brutality

Anne Mathew: I personally feel that the protest against the police by the NGOs should not be merely by one particular race. It should be by all races.

This is has been happening for a long time but it has been brushed over and covered beautifully by the police so much so nobody takes it seriously.

We take for granted the police version of custodial deaths. The public should be more aware of what happens to police detainees.

Wake up, public and get the truth.

On Should race-based parties go?

Kenny Gan: Milton Yap is right to say that when all races are equal, there is no more need for raced-based parties to fight for the rights and privileges of each race. However here lies the crux.

If the raison d'etre of race-based parties is the inequality of races, then they will continue to propagate this inequality including stoking racial tension and communal fears for their own survival.

Hence the solution to a colour-blind society does not lie in race-based parties which only serve to propagate the problem and make it worse.

We can point to our own country as the most elegant example.

Has more than half-a-century of race-based politics narrowed the gap between the races and brought them closer together?

Multi-racial parties are the only way to achieve a society where everyone is judge by their abilities and not by the colour of their skin.