Remember, not so long ago, you and your BN chappies used to ensky him, says a reader.

On Be a 'jantan', leave Umno, Mahathir told

Nak Lah: Dear YB yang tak dihormat , over here we do not tell someone who is old enough to be our grandad to be a "jantan". He has taken more salt than you. You are just behaving so very much like a schoolyard gangster and bully, the way you are teaching the Tun how to behave.

Imagine someone like you, 30 years younger, picking on an elderly man like the Tun. Whatever he has to say, can't you just listen and even if you can't bear to hear of the things said, please do not misbehave and start calling names.

Remember, not so long ago, you and your BN chappies used to ensky him. Have you forgotten the BN slogan of courtesy and all that. You are really behaving like one rude, obnoxious Malaysian. Anyway, why are you fronting for the 31-year-old and his bapa mertua ? Surely, they can answer for themselves, even if it be "elegant silence". Surely, they can stand on their on two feet and not have to use you as crutches.

William L KC: Of Nazri, Tun Dr Mahathir said it for all thinking Malaysians, i.e, "I don't care at all for his opinion."

If he were Japanese, he would have committed 'harakiri' a ling time ago, out of shame for the words that he has thrown at Mahathir. But he has no shame. To the Chinese, you can lose your money, your health. But when you lose your character, your honour, you have lost everything. Please God, let us have a good government and good leaders, soon.

Lee: There is a challenge being issued to the ex-PM to a public debate. The ex-PM should accept the challenge and pour out everything with the no holds barred. I am waiting for the debate.

Luk: I believe that the secret promise Abdullah Badawi had broken was to let Anwar Ibrahim out of the jail. Mahathir thought if he as a PM could use the government machinery to keep Anwar in jail, why didn't Badawi not lift a finger to do the same. Anwar was out within weeks of Badawi taking over. Who was the greatest threat to Mahathir and his legacy before he went on a warpath? It was Anwar Ibrahim. The half-bridge, MV Agusta, etc, were just excuses. Mahathir felt betrayed and kept saying that Badawi was ungrateful. Ungrateful for what? Ungrateful for not returning his favour by keeping Anwar in jail. Mahathir thought this is the least Badawi should have done for him.

Why did Mahathir dragged Khairy into the picture, and spoke of him with such hatred? Well, who was one of the first influential Umno figures who visited Anwar upon his release from jail and even helped secure the release of his passport? It was Khairy. Mahathir must have marked him from that day onwards and blame his influence on his father-in-law in securing the release of Anwar.

On Heroine Kathigasu books seized by JB Customs

Peter Ooi: I am ashamed that the books, 'Faces of Courage', about this legendary WWII heroine in the Kinta Valley, Sybil Kathigasu, are being seized. I came to know about the heroic deeds of this couple by reading a little bit of articles here and there. But from what little information that I manage to get, I gather that her deeds are no small matter. The sacrifices that she rendered to the people in need will put many of the present so-called heroes to shame.

But her selfless services were not noticed or recognised by the authority concerned. No roads or monuments were erected in her memory (correct me if I am wrong). Now the books, written in recognition of her noble service to the nation, are seized by the Customs. Come on, if the powers-that-be refused to give her due credit, it is time that it shows some magnanimity to others who value her services.

HL Too: Born in Ipoh, I learned about the story of the courageous Sybil Kathigasu from my parents. In fact, my mom knew Dr Kathigasu (i.e. Sybil's husband). In a place called Fair Park in Ipoh, there used to be a small lane named after Ipoh's heroine. However, that name was later replaced by some other name. There is no structure or even a sign anywhere in Ipoh that commemorates this courageous person. Since my kids did not learn about Sybil Kathigasu in school, I assumed she did not rate even a footnote in our local history books.

I suspect that perhaps the government's take on history is that the British were bad guys since they colonised our country and the Japanese were good guys since they "liberated" us from this colonial power and also destroyed the myth of "white supremacy". However, to me, the story of Sybil Kathigasu is really about courage; the extent one brave person would go to in order to help others. If the book is about courage, then the seizure of the books is about mentality - the kind we have come to expect from the likes of government officials in Malaysia.

On 82m spent to retrain unemployed grads

Heartsick: This is a good case of penny wise pound foolish. Why do we need to spend RM82 million to train graduates so that they can be prepared for the real world when all Umno have to do is to revamp the entire education system back to where it was in the early 70s. By the mere fact that we have such a scheme is a clear indication that our education system has not achieve the desired results in churning out top class students. Such a scheme was not needed in the 60s and early 70s.

Why do we need it now if our education system was world class? Umno must, without reservation, admit to the nation that the education system is flawed and because of this, the students ended up being the victims of this half-past-six system. I protest vehemently on the allocation of the RM82 milllion as my money is involved. Umno made the mistake and therefore the sum should come out from their own coffers.

On Gerakan: Helping students not a competition

Thai Eng: Who is Gerakan Youth, MCA and MIC trying to fool each year when the results for varsity applications come out. This is the time for them to play act to help all those who have problems with gaining varsity admissions. A chance for photo-ops sessions and to look good in the news.

Don't they realise that the best way to get to solve a problem, especially an annual one, is to get to the root cause of the problem and act there. As they are within the ruling coalition and claims to act for the people, the obvious solution is to get their big brother Umno to do away with the nonsensical "meritocracy" dual-stream entry system. The deputy education minister, I believe, is from the MCA, the second biggest component of the BN.

And now to top it all, despite all being aware that the matrikulasi system is advantageous compared to the STPM route, there is someone complaining that the STPM is advantageous now that co-curriculum counts for 10%. If I had just finished my SPM, I would be saying, give me matrikulasi anytime and shove the 10% co-curriculum points aside.

As for the backtrack to those 10% co-curriculum points, it is only an excuse for the PLKN/NS to be continued. Why should those who attend PLKN/NS be given extra points for IPTA admissions? PLKN/NS is not opened to all. Again who will benefit most from those extra PLKN/NS points? Will those do-gooders in MCA, Gerakan, MIC find out, please.