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On the one hand, Malaysians would like to see the true econnomic recovery after two years of crisis. On the other hand, we would like to witness the rectification of major flaws such as infringement of human rights, corruption and

cronyism.

In July this year, Parliament passed the Human Rights Commission Bill. The public hope that this is not just a pre-election exercise in human relations, projecting the image of the Government as caring for human rights. Conversely, the people expect it to deal with human rights in as fair a manner as possible.

Human Rights Commission must be genuinely independent with commssioners who do not owe the Governtment their allegiance. The Commission can then investigate all human rights infringements seriously. For example, the imprisonment of Lim Guan Eng and the black eye of the former Deputy Prime MInister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The people have a golden opportunity in the next general elections to tell Barisan Nasional that it cannot ride roughshod over them. Break the hegemony of Barisan Nasional and you will see improvement in all fields including human rights. Excessive power in the hands of any government corrupts excessively.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw