Umno general assemblies are usually chest-thumping sessions that allow leaders and members room to give vent to their ethnic nationalist sentiments. Inevitably though, there have always been the odd occasions when the spectre of ugly racism reared its ugly head.

The recent most Umno general assembly is no exception.

Once again, distinguished personages invoked the ghost of May 13 with the veiled threat that if the Malay agenda as contained in the NEP is not accepted by other Malaysians, there would be a repeat of violence and bloodshed that almost devastated our nation 35 years ago.

Such a naked threat would be superfluous in substance in many ways.

For a start, Malaysians of all races have more or less accepted the special privileges of the Malays as a perennial fact of life. These privileges are enshrined in the constitution, and questioning them would incur the wrath of the Sedition Act anyway.