The revealing of the APs list by the government must be welcomed as a significant step towards greater transparency in this country. This is so, regardless of whether further questions would be asked about the basis of allocating APs to the respective holders - big or small - and whether any 'action' will be taken to pursue this matter deeper.

Information is the lifeblood of democracy. The people are only empowered to the extent of the knowledge made available to them. We, as the people, might democratically choose not to act on the information we have acquired (by punishing the ruling party in the ballot box), but let us make that choice only after the truth has been made freely available to us.

Let us have absolute transparency before we even dream about democracy. Surely, the best thing the PM could do now is to push through a legislation mandating the disclosure of the recipients of all government contracts, licenses, concessions and permits ('approved' or otherwise).

An exception must be made under the Official Secrets Act and other relevant legislation to give immunity from prosecution to those who disclose such information to the public. After all, the government should stop insulting our intelligence by linking these information to 'national security'. Only bad policies need to be masqueraded as 'Top Secret' .

The press would no doubt gladly participate in the efforts to promote transparency in the governance of this country. All these ideas are nothing new. Many people have championed for them. It is time the prime minister takes them seriously.

Further, by making these legislative changes, Abdullah would be able to safeguard his legacy - if he aspires to become the Father of Malaysian Democracy, even after he leaves office. If left to Executive discretion, it is possible that the next PM might be unwilling to disclose future lists of AP holders.

Perhaps a bold amendment to the Constitution itself in order to enact an American style First Amendment protection of freedom of speech would be too idealistic to hope for at this stage, but a first firm step should be taken in that direction.

Note that we do not have to copy the American model of absolute free speech in all aspects - we might not want absolute freedom of artistic expression which gives license to lewdness, obscenity or indecency, in order to protect our children, social fabric and moral values.

But we desperately need absolute freedom of political speech in order to criticise government policies and officers, expose corruption and lack of integrity, and in general, to keep the government accountable.

I am sure many citizens would hope and pray that the disclosure of the list of AP holders is a highly-motivating sign that our PM is finally delivering on the promises he has made in the general election.

Perhaps, giving him the benefit of the doubt, Abdullah was hindered in his efforts to uproot corruption and promote accountability by the outcome of the Umno elections last year.

After all, he needed his people at the right, high places to work with him when he is moving forward, as well as to defend him when he is under attack by the big bullies who are 'offended' by his aggressive policies.

But with the recent toppling of Isa Samad and the waves of rejoicing - albeit quiet - among the people, I hope Abdullah finally realises, that he does not need to have the green light of his deputy or his predecessor's cronies in order to have the strength to move forward in doing the right thing.

This is because the whole country is behind him.

He might not have the mandate of Umno representatives at the party election to clean up the mess in both the government and the party, but he has the mandate of scores of millions of Malaysian citizens who have voted for him with high hopes and expectations.

We have accepted his plea to 'work with' him. And we have waited for over a year for our first assignment together. Now, let's get the job started.