A few days ago the government had to reenact the Sauk arms heist. Basically, the objective was to show that 100 or so rifles could fit into three Pajero four-wheel drive vehicles, together with fifteen soldiers.

I would have thought this would have laid the matter to rest. But, still, people had something to say. "The fifteen arms heist gang were so much bigger and fatter than the small and thin fifteen soldiers", they said.

It looks like the government is nowhere near convincing the people. They still do not believe the government.

I could not help but laugh when the newsreader announced on TV that the government would be replaying the "Sauk drama". How appropriate a choice of words! Everyone had been saying all along that it was nothing but a drama. And now the government itself admits so.

Everyone, including the opposition political parties, was invited to attend the demonstration. The opposition, however, decided to boycott the event. Initially the government said it would allow questions and answers. Later, though, the government said no questions would be entertained. This would mean everyone would just be allowed to watch and accept what was going to be shown without comment or protest.

The danger in something like this would be if the government tried to pull a fast one. Since the opposition had attended the demonstration, and without any comment or protest - never mind they were not being allowed to - this would give credibility to the government. In other words, the opposition had now endorsed the whole thing. The government could even claim that everything is now settled, and the fact the opposition was present means the opposition too accepts that this is so.

It all sounds so complicating doesn't it? Anyway, never mind! That's not the main issue here. What is more important to note is the very fact that the government even needed to conduct a reenactment in the first place. Isn't something terribly wrong when the people no longer take anything the government says at face value and the government has to "prove it"?

The government is extremely pleased that it has "put the rumours to rest" and has "proven" that Sauk could happen. But they should wipe the smirks off their faces. The government doesn't seem to get the point that they were forced to conduct this public display to prove a point because the people were laughing at them. This is where the insult lies.

The government so conveniently blames the opposition for "spreading lies" and "misleading the people". How can this be so? The government and UMNO own the TV and radio stations plus control all the daily newspapers in the land either through ownership or licensing. The opposition only owns their party newspapers and the Internet.

Harakah's sales are merely 600,000 copies a month compared to the millions who watch TV every day. And the Internet, well, not everything on the Internet is taken as fact. The government, therefore, has a major advantage at disseminating news.

The Tenth General Elections in November 1999 has proven this. The government so effectively used the media to frighten the Chinese that there would be a repeat of the May 1969 racial riots if the ruling party did not retain their two-thirds majority in Parliament. The Chinese believed this "promise" and reluctantly voted for the ruling party though they were opposition at heart.

The opposition admits that the government-controlled media is their biggest obstacle. It would be very difficult for the opposition to make inroads as long as the media is under government control and the opposition does not have an effective information organ of their own.

Why do you think the government reduced Harakah's circulation from twice a week to twice a month? The government knew that, though the opposition has only one newspaper against the many dailies of the government, they could still do an effective job nevertheless. So Harakah had to be cut down further.

It has come to a stage that the many daily newspapers, TV stations and radio stations can no longer fool the people. The "height" of the government's campaign of lies and fear peaked in November 1999. Thereafter it has been gradually sliding downhill.

The doubts started during Anwar Ibrahim's first trial. Initially, the people were still a bit confused as to the truth. The media played up the first trial to the hilt and some people actually thought that Anwar might have been guilty as charged. But the second trial was a major mistake for the government. The second trial convinced the people that the charges against Anwar were so ridiculous that the charges in the first trial must have been equally false.

Sauk seems to have been the turning point. Never before have so many people laughed at an incident the way they did with Sauk. Even the dead bodies produced would not convince the people. The government's credibility has just taken a nosedive and, the sad thing is, the government does not seem to realise this.

To the government, the people's skepticism is due to the opposition spreading lies. How blind can the government be? The people's disbelief has nothing to do with the opposition spreading lies. It's all about the people believing that it is the government that is spreading lies.

A government that needs to demonstrate every incident to prove it is telling the truth is a government that has totally lost the trust of the people. It is not whether the government has managed to convince the people. It is why, in the first place, the government even needs to do so?

RAJA PETRA KAMARUDIN