The Prime Minister and his government have apparently failed to understand the problems the rakyat face when he asked the angry citizens to understand him and the true reason of the oil price hike.

It is not the oil subsidy cut per se that we are angry about or protest. It is actually the mismanagement of the economy of the country for the past four years since the 2004 election that has angered us.

The failure of the economic management and the unhealthy politics of BN led many Malaysians to lose their jobs or businesses for many years. Malaysians have already suffered for a very long time.

But the PM seems unaware of this fact and his calls for changing our lifestyle after the price hike suggests that he is unaware of our life's problem. Our frustrations did not begin from this unpopular move but it is aggravated by the already bad situation.

Many people are already out of jobs or out of businesses. There is simply nothing more to cut back on. The oil subsidy cut just adds to the problem. This is the tipping point for protest and should not be viewed as the sole reason for it.

Instead of seeing a turnaround of the economy and the hope of better times from Pak Lah at this time, we were told to continue to live in darkness for an extended period of time.

How is it that that the rakyat will not get angry? What made us even more angry is that we don't see the PM and his BN MPs willing to suffer with us. Many of you are still rich!

Don't tell us about the good economic growth numbers and the low inflation rate. We have good reasons to believe they are not accurate or even made-up.

They simply don't match the real situation of the people on the street. If you really want to know what is really going on, try looking at the personal debt level in the banks and the number of bankruptcies or company closures at the Companies Commission of Malaysia.

Yes, the protests will go on until you have tackled the real problems.