The success stories of Indonesia and Turkey as two economically vibrant and yet democratically flourishing countries have effectively broken down the Asian Values once propagated forcefully by Mahathir Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew and readily embraced by the Chinese Communist Party.

Too bad the Malaysian government remains intransigent in thinking that any public challenge to its authority would result in chaos and bloodshed. Najib Abdul Razak - still an apprentice because he has yet to secure a popular mandate as prime minister - is so bankrupt of ideas that he has been compelled to resort to fear tactics.