Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin came under intense shelling by Malaysiakini readers for telling Malaysians that they were not ready for live telecast of parliamentary proceedings because they were not mature enough.

RJ: Perhaps the minister is afraid and embarrassed to allow Malaysians to see how parliamentarians behave in the House. For those who've been to Parliament on numerous occasions (as I have and still do), you'd know that many MPs, on a daily basis, behave like mindless nut-cases, thugs, hooligans and uneducated morons. I'm sure Malaysians, no matter what race, will enjoy the daily dose of comedy and silliness that often comes out of the House.

Or perhaps the minister is worried that Malaysians will spot that their MPs - mainly ministers - are often missing from Parliament. Constituents will not thrilled to find those they elected missing from their duties.

He may even be worried that the public will realise that basic issues/needs in the country aren't addressed because MPs (especially Barisan MPs) spend most of their precious time in the House blabbing about irrelevant issues and getting into childish shouting matches.

Zam, don't conjure up some absurd excuse that Malaysians aren't matured enough or too racially prejudiced to handle what goes on in Parliament. I mean, even a 10-year-old will find the live scenes televised easy to comprehend and entertaining - since that's the level of maturity that many MPs who stand up to speak possess.

Rom Nain: I believe Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin must have been talking principally about himself when he asserted that Malaysians have a 'third world mentality' and 'have not reached an intellectual stage where (they) can carry the wisdom of being able to agree to disagree?'

Indeed, only someone with a third (turd?) world mentality would make such nonsensical comments without providing concrete evidence to show that (all?) Malaysians (including all cabinet ministers, I suppose) are as the information minister presumes them to be. Is it too much to ask for the emergence of even 'second world' Malaysian ministers at this juncture instead of 'out of this world' ones?

Disgusted: Who are you to call me someone with a third-world mentality. Look upon yourself and see who is the one who is racist. Where justice prevails, I could sue you for insulting my intelligence. Who are you to judge whether I could handle a bunch of people who are pretending to be representing the people but instead are representing themselves.

Who are you to say I can't handle listening to functioning corrupt government debating on issues that do not even relate to the actual hardship the people are going through. You call yourself a leader. The government practices race-based politics, what more do you expect the people to practice? You are the one with third-world mentality, Zam, definitely not me.

Sankar: Zainuddin is right that we have a racial view of things and it the same government's racial policies for the last 25 years which is the cause for the state of race relations in the country. It is not the people but the honourable members sitting in the Parliament who are racial, judging from their utterances. With live telecast, all their standards, their class, their national outlook, their judgements, their fluency, the ability to articulate issues, etc, etc, will be exposed to the entire nation and most of them will never be reelected!

The minister is right that we are nowhere near the Commons, I mean our Yang Berhormats, but the people are ready and mature enough for live telecasts.

Zainuddin, the news and other broadcasts over the channels you control simply stink and Malaysians do not buy it. Most simply do not watch it. You have something to say to this, Yang Berhormat?

Jesmine: Oh dear! Now we are seen as racist by the very leaders we choose to be in office. Being worst than British, I agree since they have a Parliament that is broadcasted live on TV for all to view. A look at 9th Malaysian Plan, happenings in the prison, police brutality, etc, I wonder who are actually the racist ones. I think Zam forgot that the nation whom he is calling racist, is the very reason why he is where he is. Else he would be joining us 'racist' people!

C Anthony: It is unfortunate that our information minister, Zainuddin Maidin, considers us racists and not mature enough as compared to the British.

Yes, Malaysians may have become more racial in thinking, but who is responsible for that. We were more Malaysians and less Malay, Chinese and Indians 30 or 40 years ago. Over the years, instead of developing further that racial unity, the government had intentionally created the racial polarisation that we have today.

Politicians have blatantly abused racial issues for the benefit of political mileage. This has resulted in citizens today considering themselves first as Malays, Chinese and Indians and only second as Malaysians.The government policies have created first, second and even third-class citizens.

Dhammika: The information minister must realise whom he is referring as racist Malaysian viewers. If at all the people are racist then this is the result of racist policy that is still in the racial fabric. When is the government going to correct this situation? By and large, the Barisan MPs are racial in their expression. The Barisan component parties are on racial groupings. How many times have we heard racial slurs being expressed by Barisan MPs and they get away scot free. The rakyat are not as racial as the MPs. The parliamentary sittings can be live if the MPs behave themselves and not like kids.

Kisin: I do agree with Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin to some extent that Malaysian viewers still think from a racial point of view, however, is this not because our politicians are guilty of it themselves? Malaysians will only react "racistly" to racist remarks. The problem is not that Malaysian viewers are racist, rather, that "Malaysian viewers are not ready for live racist parliamentary proceedings".

I fully support MP Teresa Kok's proposal for live proceedings, not only so that views of both sides are heard, but also so that politicians can be accountable for their behaviour in Parliament. We as voters should be granted the chance to judge our leaders so that we can vote more competent people into power. Surely this will bring us closer to a first-world parliament?

M Tan: If the government's recent decision on the half-bridge was according to the voice of the people then why the not listen to the voice of the people again with regards to live telecast of parliamentary proceedings.

Shaukat: Tell Zainuddin not to undermine the intellect of Malaysians. He must also be reminded that he is a Malaysian and making such statements, he includes himself. Hence he too has a third-world mentality. As such, he should immediately relinquish his ministerial post as we Malaysians do not need a minister with a third-world mentality. If he feels that we, Malaysian viewers, are not up to the standard of the British viewers, then I would like to question his loyalty and whether he is proud to be a Malaysian.

It is people like him who bring shame to our beloved nation by undermining the intellect of the Malaysian people. I am sure our PM too watches RTM and as such he has also branded our PM as a viewer with a third-world mentality. Zainuddin, be very careful of what you say as you're defaming the rakyat.

Kamal Arifin: I just got this to tell him (Zainuddin), it is an insult to us Malaysian to be graded as such by a cabinet minister.

Stupidhead: Malaysian citizens too racist and not wise enough to handle live parliamentary broadcast? Or perhaps it's because many of our MPs are too racist and/or too stupid to be shown on public TV? Or perhaps it's because while we are stupid enough to vote for our MPs but are not quite stupid enough to 'tahan' (stand) the pathetic performance of our MPs in Parliament and vote for them again in the next election?

Or perhaps it is because we are too naive to be shown the fact that our MPs rarely show up in Parliament at all. Surely Malaysia is the only country where members of the elected government readily admit the voters are stupid. Malaysia Boleh!

Baxter Ray: I think I have had just about enough of what our cabinet ministers think of us - the Malaysian rakyat. The logic of some of their arguments drive home the collective view of the cabinet that we are all fools of the first order who have no brains and cannot think.

The latest is the remark by Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, both inside and outside Parliament, that we Malaysian still have a 'third world mentality" and "we have not reached an intellectual stage where we can carry the wisdom of being able to agree to disagree." Tell me, how can we agree to disagree when the logic of the arguments put up by some cabinet minister on critical issues faced by the nation is so childish that one is left wondering how come that person got elevated to the position of a cabinet minister in the first place.

The recent remark by Zainuddin is a case in point. What does he think? That only he and his cabinet colleagues have reached intellectual maturity? Come on, Yang Berhormat, telecast live the proceedings of Parliament and let us decide who are the clowns who sit in Parliament and who are those who harp on racial issues. Or better still, would you like to try a referendum on the issue and let the Malaysian rakyat decide?