"Rather than add more bile and venom to my already overflowing trough of neuroses, I might as well call it quits while I can still string a coherent sentence together" so said Dr Farish A Noor in ' My final column '.

To everyday and subaltern ordinary folks (especially the minorities), Farish's criticisms of the reformasi movement carried out by opposition parties strike a chord. We will miss his column.

As the stress of hate mails has taken its toll o­n his health, he deserves a break. Criticisms by the likes of Marissa Dell were merely the last straw that broke the camel's back. The main cause is disillusionment o­n the prospects of democracy here.

According to Marissa Dell, the reformasi issues of "social justice, independence of the judiciary, freedom of the press, human rights" were not new issues that were suddenly awakened by Anwar Ibrahim's fall from grace. According to her, the reformasi movement (the birth of a new political consciousness driven by the people) was larger and earlier than Barisan Alternatif opposition parties.

If this was so, it must be very nascent as I have not heard of the expression 'reformasi' before the 1997/98 financial and political crises in both Indonesia and Malaysia. It was o­nly after Anwar's incarceration, (and in its wake the formation of BA) that 'refomasi' crept into the popular lexicon along with his complaints of bailouts and cronyism.

Reformasi was a political movement principally identified with, and spearheaded by, Keadilan, Parti Rakyat Malaysia, Democratic Action Party and PAS within the BA coalition - the responsibility for the success or failure of which, should largely be pinned.

Malaysiakini

reader msy urged Malaysian Chinese to support Keadilan because it is not race-based, but justice-based. I am sorry, but I don't buy that. It is a matter of public record that neither Keadilan nor PRM have come out with a clear public position against institutionalised racism epitomised by bumiputra-non-bumiputra dichotomy.

As far as I recall, between Anwar's fall and the inception of Keadilan and the BA, o­nly the DAP had fought consistently for these issues - human rights, pluralism, racial equality, religious tolerance, public accountability, freedom of the press and freedom from abuse of power.

Neither of Keadilan nor PRM unequivocally stood by DAP in its dissociation from PAS' ideology of the Islamic state the issue that resulted in the o­nly significant political party that fought and sacrificed for 'reformasi' ideals well before BA - to leave its fold.

If this is not a clear indictment of the BA opposition groups' failure to carry out reformasi, re-invent Malaysian politics and promote diversity and pluralism against entrenched race and religious architecture, what clearer proof is further required?

The fight for independence of judiciary, freedom of the press, human rights by BA opposition parties appears more skewed towards the political redemption of o­ne man and the preservation of his political base, rather than for the entire Malaysian nation based o­n the imperatives of multiculturalism.

Ironically it is the BA that come out with high-sounding manifesto, principles of which it has shown to o­nly give lip service and cannot quite match up with actions and policies.

The BN however starts from a much lower moral standing, and hence, starts from a lower base of public expectations. Though "snail like" in progress, the BN will, in response to opposition criticisms, attempt to re-invent, taking piecemeal steps like the instituting of the Human Rights Commission, show attempt to mitigate some of the harsher effects of the quota system, to fight money politics. From the bottom of the barrel, the BN can o­nly be seen as making marginal progress for the better - even if it stalls, it can get no worse, as it is o­nly to be expected.

Not so for the BA opposition parties that start from a very high base of public expectations, but have not proven the commitment to live up to it. Chances are that over time, the BA will be seen as getting worse, whilst the BN better. This is how mainstream Malaysians will perceive the equation come next elections.