To friends at Malaysiakini,

On the 10th anniversary of your founding, I would like to salute the marriage of innovative technology and visionary thinking that has been the basis of your success as an online news portal.

The last 10 years have been an auspicious decade in the history of Malaysia’s freedom because of what Malaysiakini has helped achieve, which is nothing less than the loosening of the fetters that, hitherto, had tightly bound the domain of public information.

The powers-that-be were the unchallenged monarchs of that domain until Malaysiakini launched its exhilarating insurgency. Seldom in the annals of liberation technology and the right to know has an intrepid and visionary few so successfully endeavoured to meet the need of the hour with the resources available.

My congratulations to Steven Gan and Premesh Chandran for having the vision and courage to launch and sustain this stirring venture.

The political awakening they, their staff, and the band of citizen journalists they have fostered, have helped seed a political awakening that led to a seismic general election in March last year and a churning of the national political landscape in the direction of freedom and democracy.

I am confident that Malaysiakini will grow despite the still repressive political environment because of the real need it meets and the steadfastness of its commitment to freeing the domain of public information from the controls of those who want to manage the news.

I wish all at Malaysiakini more success in the years to come, years that are likely to be as crucial for the freedom of our nation as the last decade has been.

The author is parliamentary opposition leader.