I can vouch for the pro-Malay policies in the army (and all government services in general) as I too have gone through the rigours of applying to the RMC (Royal Military College) and went as far as the second round of interviews in its campus in Sungei Besi, Kuala Lumpur.

Even as a young boy of 15, I could tell that my interviewees were just putting on a show and were not interested in the non-Malays. The Malay officers blatantly 'overlooked' the credentials of the non-Malays and were just going through the motions in the selection process.

I still remember my Anglo-Malay friend who was hoping half his genes would put him in good stead in the selection rounds for the college.

Alas, as MGG Pillai said in his article, we were just there to make up the numbers to give it a multi-racial look.

Ultimately, everything in Malaysia comes down to race and religion. Such policies will fail in the long term as the more qualified non-Malays will have no choice but to move overseas to fulfill their potential. Most will not return for the simple reason that they see no future for non-Malays in the country and they have their children's future to think of.

Luckily for me there was a silver lining to all these. I am now a practising surgeon overseas where my children's prospects are much better than had I remain in Malaysia.