It is actually a period of lull, there is a silence, a silence of expectations. The people of Malaysia are awaiting a change and a change for the better. In fact not just a change but a revival, a Renaissance of sorts to turn this country once again into a credible nation that is respected and looked upon as a model of racial and religious freedom and tolerance.

Where people once mix together freely as one and yet enjoy their diversity, it is there no longer thanks to the policies of the Barisan Nasional and Umno in particular and Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Ketuanan Melayu which he initiated in 1969.

This same man would have the longest tenure as the president of Umno even lengthened by crookish means and it was he who stated back then in 1969 that the “Malays are the owners of this country and that the other races get citizenship with the consent of the Malays and that consent can be withdrawn”.

That was the beginning of Ketuanan Melayu propagated by Mahathir and echoed by the grandson of Onn Jaffar, the founding father of Umno and later the first man in the country to propose a single Malaysian Party which was rejected by Umno.

The nation waits to unite under one banner, as one people by a man who promises just that, where our main priority is to wipe out poverty so that every Malaysian will be able to live a decent life void of hunger and despair.

Remember that it was Anwar Ibrahim who during his days as finance minister had insisted that every developer of housing projects had to allocate a portion of his development for low cost housing, an idea that was flung out of the window just like they did Anwar when he was gone.

Our members from East Malaysia must now respond. They should lead this country out of the doldrums it is in now. It is time they be counted, it's time for them to assume leading positions in the cabinet.

I said this immediately after the elections but they only received crumbs like they always did, whilst some others who sold East Malaysian rights enriched themselves at the expense of native Malaysians like the Dayaks and Kadazans.

East Malaysians do not hold significant positions in the government because it is Umno that runs the government.

But Umno leaders have lost control of the party and it is the party that leads the government and this is glaringly evident. The case of the Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail who made disparaging remarks about the non-Malays is a glaring example.

It is time for the East Malaysians to make a stand, it is time for them to help Anwar initiate the change, it is time for all reasonable good thinking MCA, MIC and Gerakan MPs, if there are any left, to make a conscientious decision to break ranks and cross over for the sake of the nation and the people and form a new government that will break the dominance of this wretched present day leadership, if you can call it leadership.

Our justice system has been raped, new draconian laws are being put in place and we are being deprived of our very basic rights. You can be jailed under the ISA for saying boo to a goose if the government chooses to do so and all this to maintain a corrupt, and irresponsible government.

Greed has become the order of the day, and in pursuit of the power and wealth they seek, they will not blink an eyelid to kill, jail, torture or do anything as long as the ends justifies the means.

If this country has to turn over a new leaf, if this country is to regain its glory, it has to rid itself of this corrupt government come September, and this can only be done by responsible men of honour. We pray you stand up and get counted for the sake of the nation and your children come September 16.