I PASSED by a Mak Cik the other day in Bangsar, the seemingly affluent district of Kuala Lumpur. She told me she had come all the way from Kedah to sell her Raya kerepek to make ends meet. I took three packets just to compensate for my sense of guilt.

The next thing I knew was a tough fight to get a parking space at a five-star hotel just a stone's throw away. I later learned that many had rushed there for the buka puasa dinner buffet, where the sumptuous feast ironically touted as "in kampong style" - would set one back by RM69. The dinning hall was packed, yet the waiting staff were still busy getting more chairs and tables to fill up the already shrinking space.

Yesterday, I went to buy fruits from an old Chinese Ah Pek as usual. Pointing the headlines on the newspaper to me, he grumbled that this country was becoming increasingly polarised. I thought he meant the racial divide, but one must never underestimate the discerning wisdom hidden in the average Joe.

"The paper says bumiputra corporate equity ownership could be as high as 45%. I wonder how much of this has gone to the poor Malays. Poor people are the same everywhere. The Malay farmer that I buy my fruits from only drives an aging used car like mine. Look at Ling Liong Sik's son. He became a billionaire before he turned 30. I don't think he understands my plight."

Racial sentiments

When those like Khairy Jamaluddin attempted to build up their "Malay" credentials by appealing to racial sentiments, I was intrigued to know if he had met a Mak Cik like that one that I talked to. They most probably sit in their posh cars, shielded from the real world by the tinted windows and windscreens. Their concern for the weak minorities in their own community is constantly in doubt. To put it bluntly, they seem only to be barmy about playing this race game, with no feasible solution in sight.

Some were pulling their hair as to why someone with an Oxbridge pedigree would have behaved like that. I told them the problem lies in the culture in which Khairy was bred. As an ancient Chinese story goes, the juicy and sweet mandarin orange is best cultivated south of the River Huai. Once moved north, it becomes bitter and sour thanks to the cold climate and the harsh soil.

So long as Umno remains a racist party, propped up also by other race-based parties, Khairy will not be the last Malay-hero wannabe. No amount of Oxbridge qualifications will help. And they will continue to have their buka puasa feast at prices beyond the reach of the very people that they claim to represent.

This is perhaps the reason why Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has warned the public not to question the official statistics. He said a prolonged debate over the issue of Malay equity could cause tension between races. But I guess it is Umno who cannot stand the test as it would eventually reveal that the gap between the rich and the poor is probably the greatest among the Malays. It will make Umno's claim as the defender and upholder of Malay interests untenable.

It is high time Malaysians stop believing the Umno-led government is sincere in meeting the target of 30% Malay equity. Umno, bereft of ideologies and haunted by real hard work, is least willing to see its "historical mission" accomplished. Malaysians must articulate the NEP issue with a broader perspective: how sustainable would it be for a small group of political and business "elite" to milk the nation's economy in the long run, while the population continues to grow?

Those left out

But what worries me most is the dichotomy approach that many have taken in addressing the issue of marginalisation. To debunk the myth that Malays or the "bumiputra" communities are marginalised, we tend to refuse to believe there are millions of Malays who are left out of the Umno-engineered development process, not to mention the indigenous groups in Sabah and Sarawak and the orang asli communities in the Peninsula, who in my view are the true Sons of the Soil.

In the same vein, we also live under the delusion that all non-Malays are marginalised. I seriously do not think Ong Ka Ting and the Chinese tycoons who have become filthy rich through their symbiotic connections with Umno-putras will see me or the fruit-vendor as their "fellow stakeholders". Quite clearly, their interests diverge from ours and our paths simply do not cross.

The peril in continuing with this Malays vs Non-Malays mindset is that it will cloud us from the real issue of poverty and income disparity. If we insist all Malays are benefactors of the NEP and poverty is irrelevant as far as the Malays are concerned, why complain when Utusan Malaysia and the New Straits Times cite a few Chinese tycoons to refute the claim that Chinese Malaysians are marginalised? It is perhaps hard for us to admit we are clothed in the same mindset too.

We need to fight against the racist propaganda sanctioned by the highest echelon of the Umno establishment at all costs, but it is also a good opportunity for us to look deep inside ourselves so that our minds will be truly free. Trapped in the current marginalisation quagmire, we should guard against the elite and the politicians on both sides of the political divide who are quick to respond to the challenge by taking a racial stance.

I always pity the animals who are manipulated to believe "four legs good and two legs bad" in Animal Farm . But it is sad to know how this stereotype can often work the other way round in real life.