Another prayer answered.

Our symbol for change - RPK!

Every night, as I ready myself for sleep, I pray.

Today, another one of my prayers was answered - RPK is to be freed at 4p.m. today!

Just as Americans have just recently voted for change in the recent presidential elections, it is also high time for change back home in Malaysia!

How much more nonsense, corruption and evil from the government can we put up with? How can we tolerate a government that relies on fear and scare tactics to keep us in check? Or a government that put an innocent man in a solitary detention cell for no good, justified reason, totally without trial?

We need change in Malaysia, but before we are entitled to embrace that change, we Malaysians need to take that very first step - to believe in that change.

Lets look at Obama's presidential campaign for example. Many people thought that he couldn't do it because he is half black in a world that isn't colour blind. People thought that he would fail because his campaign wasn't one that was hatched in the hallowed halls of Washington, but the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. The early polls showed that Obama wasn't the likeliest candidate to win. But what was different about him? He had an unwavering faith in his ability to bring change to America, and his strength allowed even the jaded public to give change a second chance.

And that's just what we need back home in Malaysia. We need the courage to believe that things can improve. We need to believe in change again, just like our forefathers once did when they wrestled our independence from the British way back in 1957. We need to believe once again.

That's why I believe we, the educated and informed citizens of Malaysia need to give people with courage, just like Raja Petra Kamarruddin, our utmost support.

We need to believe in change once again, and do our best to remake this nation for the better, even if it's just one brick at a time.

Some people have asked me why I was just so excited over Obama's win. I mean, why do I even care?

It's not that I'm secretly American, or that I'm secretly of Kenyan descent, but just because I believe that Obama is a powerful symbol of change - something that we need so much in these troubled times. His historic win in a country where racism is a very real issue empowers us to believe in change again.

I saw this photo at http://digitaljournalist.org:

The Gandhi of our age.

The caption wrote:

Senator Obama was doing press interviews by telephone in a holding room between events. Sometime later as he was getting ready to begin his event, he asked me if I was photographing his shoes. When I said yes, he told me that he had already had them resoled once since he entered the race a year earlier. Providence, R.I., 3/1/2008.

- http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html

This just shows how humble the man who is to hold the most powerful office in the world truly is.

I believe that in every era, humanity needs truly inspirational figures - men who have risen above themselves and reached the apex of self actualization to inspire humanity to yet higher heights.

Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers of the United States of America believed in a prosperous, united nation free from the shackles of the British Empire, and their vision united a country.

Enstein dreamt of that he was on a rocket ship travelling at the speed of light, and that simple thought experiment became the foundation of his entire theory of relativity.

Gandhi believed in winning independence from the British through peaceful means. He believed in it, and helped pave the way for India's independence without so much raising a weapon.

I can only pray that one day I too can become someone like these men, who like a beacon of light in a dark age, shined so brightly to give strength and hope to the people around them.

Now that's another prayer that I would really like to see answered.