In the spirit of columnists Dean Johns and Sim Kwang Yang , allow me to also contribute a piece about the role of Malaysiakini in the journey to improve governance in Malaysia.

This column is therefore dedicated to the hard-working team at Malaysiakini , both real and virtual, shareholders and stakeholders, producers and consumers, and to the virtual citizens of Malaysians Incorporated worldwide who continue to give Malaysiakini a hope and a future.

First, allow me to relate my personal story of becoming a journalist of sorts. I migrated to Malaysiakini after I was frustrated with writing a column for a mainstream newspaper because they consistently edited some of the meaning of what I wrote.

My thoughts were: \”After all, I am a columnist and why should any newspaper; virtual or in paper form, have rights to ‘censor\’ my personal but public views?\” Normally the columnist puts his or her name to the column while the newspaper gives the person the rights to some limited space each time. Therefore both can be held accountable and must remain equally responsible for this work of joint publishing.

Consequently, I thought, the editorial privilege should only contain the right to \”protecting and preserving each other against the violation of the law, or rules and norms.\” But, when they begin to skew your content towards a particular meaning and perspective, the views are no more those of the columnist.

So allow me to thank the Malaysiakini team for allowing me the privilege of sharing my views and opinions over the last five years. It has not been a totally smooth ride, but I have enjoyed the privilege all the same. I had insisted on some ground rules for both myself and Malaysiakini in our journey together.

1. No censorship of content

2. First right of refusal

3. The IP (intellectual property) belongs to both; and each is free to publish with permission of the other

4. Editing is limited to form and presentation only, and

5. If serious changes are needed, they are done with the explicit agreement of the columnist.

Premised on the above five guiding parameters, the last five years have been one of privilege and responsibility for me to co-labour with Malaysiakini team to express issues of my interest and concern in terms of good or improved governance in Malaysia.

The night of 2008 GE

The moment of greatest significance for Malaysiakini as non-mainstream media for me was the timely reporting of the last general election results.

On the evening of March 8, 2008, as I did not have a TV at home, I was with my father and brother to follow the election results at their home. In fact, I even turned down another offer from some very good friends to watch TV in one of their homes. My dad is a founder member of MIC in Kedah and therefore the politics of each general election has always been in our blood; or at least to be conscious voters to protect and preserve our rights within a democracy.

There I sat with my brother and father tuned into the mainstream TV stations, including Astro\’s cable channel. But as we waited for early results, nothing came forth with truth-telling. For some context, my brother who drove all the way to Sungai Petani at 5am to vote, had got back home by 4pm in anticipation for the results. But it however appeared that the GE results were delayed for some reason.

I became impatient by about 8.30pm and asked my brother for access to his computer to see what was the story on the Internet. Lo and behold, the real and true story of the election results was unfolding in cyberspace unbeknown to most mainstream media watchers!

Malaysiakini of course gave the most comprehensive and impressive coverage but others like Lim Kit Siang blog also gave their predictions and so did a number of the other popular sites, such as Malaysia Today or Peoples\’ Parliament .

Slowly but surely the news and views that really matter unfolded right in front of the eyes of all connected Malaysians. Then a truth that matters also hit every Malaysian – that the democratic spirit and the tsunami effect of a people who can say, \”Enough is enough,\” had in fact hit the Malaysia, as it did Indonesia earlier and the Philippines even earlier.

Finally, as the full results unraveled, it became obvious to all netizens that democracy and the journey to good governance was very much alive in Malaysia and the people of Malaysia can truly and really make their own minds up about what is good, true and right for Malaysia. I believe a new Malaysia was born, and there is really no turning back.

The column I had submitted in the wake of the 2008 GE was called ‘The hand of God\’. Malaysiakini\’s editorial wisdom called it ‘The sinking of Umno\’. Be that as it may, the point was made: the thinking people of Malaysia had said, \”They did not like the direction of Titanic Malaysia!\” They cried: \”It is time to change directions!\”

Have you heard them?

But after almost two years and eight months one wonders whether the government of the day has heard? Moreover, equally valid is the same question to the governments of the day in the \”opposition states\”, have you heard too?

The people of Malaysia gave Abdullah Ahmad Badawi 94 percent votes in 2004 because he promised \”a nation governed with integrity, with openness and transparency, and without corruption\”. To me, that was the real source of birth of the democratic vision in Malaysia. When the same government ignored those promises and returned to their corrupt and merry ways, the same people said, again, \”we can change the government and we will!\”

Allow me, as part and parcel of the fifth estate (I believe that the public services is the fourth estate), to say to the governments of the day, \”the people, like the tiger who has tasted blood, will not stop until good governance is achieved and sustainably practiced in Malaysia at the federal, state and local government levels.\”

The converged multiple forms of media and medium were designed to be uncontrollable and to usher in new governance of the people, by the people and for the people. No human can hinder such progress. Media like Malaysiakini are a people\’s movement for democracy; and we will have improved governance within the next decade.

May God bless Malaysia and help us usher a sustainable form of good governance!