I applaud malaysiakini for the coverage on the Edmund Terrence Gomez affair . There is so much commotion but the 'servants sitting in the high places' have not made a single move.

Distinguished individuals and academicians from in and out of the country have voiced their trepidation, making pleas to the government to exercise fair play but the government elects to play deaf and dumb.

Then we read that the vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaya had previously put on a similar facade by not responding to a letter from Professor Jeffrey Henderson of Manchester University.

Perhaps it is only me, but I would expect any university vice-chancellor worth his salt to be answerable to the world of academia at large, never mind the basic manners of responding when written to.

And while playing this ridiculous game, these people have the cheek to set up a committee to 'explore ways to build world-class universities'. Throughout this appalling episode, I am reminded of just how immobilised and paralysed our country has become.

We seem to be held hostages by these 'servants' as we helplessly watch critical issues roll by us untouched and unsolved. Come 2020, do we expect our country to be a 'developed nation' at the wave of a 'tongkat sakti' by the prime minister?