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Will the "feel good factor" lasts forever? Media Statement by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew (Petaling Jaya, Wednesday): Those who watched the live " Fast Forward"  TV1 dialogue program last night would agree with me that Khairy Jamaluddin, the incoming deputy UMNO Youth chief, is indeed a first rate propagandist. He is very different from Datuk Nazri Aziz, the Minister in the PM Department, who appeared in the"Debat Perdana" live show on last Sunday night. Nazri was relatively more straight forward and honest than Khairy in speaking his minds. While Nazri openly admitted that his government "supports the Malay schools (mainstream) and merely allows the vernacular schools (non-mainstream) to exist", Khairy will never be so frank as such comments inevitably reflects the real discrimination on vernacular schools in the country. The feel good factor largely created by Khairy and company for the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been proven very successful in winning elections. It's time for the PM to walk the talk, instead of allowing his spin-doctors to continuing the spinning of politically-correct statements and catch-phrases. Otherwise, all the good talks and promises were tantamount to lies and falsehood, which go against the veins of the so-called Islam Hadhari (modern/progressive Islam). The fight against corruption seems to slow down immediately after the last elections. The red tapes imposed by various government departments and agencies are still stifling the rakyat. There is no sign for any freedom of press. The Damansara Chinese primary school controversy continues to be ignored by the new Pak Lah administration. The fate of Chinese education is still hanging in the balance as the government has yet to decide on the medium of examination for UPSR come 2008. Or they have decided to use English only but simply not ready to disclose for strategic reasons. Even the recent Budget 2005 has nothing to shout about. The fact that the Budget mentions nothing about the price increase of gas and petroleum but the talk of another hike immediately appears in the agenda of the Cabinet meeting in the following week proves nothing but hypocrisy. It's like doing a budget for a new house without putting in the cost of renovation. I can hear the sound of tight slaps on the face for those who praised the Budget sky-high for no mention of price hike in petroleum. The feel good factor is diminishing pretty fast. How long more do we need to see some real actions?  (15/9/2004) * Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP International and Non-Governmental Organisations Affairs Secretary