Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad is right about not letting PAS - with its fundamentalist Islamism that veers towards extreme forms of practice - govern Malaysia.

He's also right in saying that PAS would never share power among other ethnic groups in the country, much less has any "realistic or serious economic and foreign policy agenda".

Problem though for Syed, is that while the Umno-led Barisan Nasional shares power with other ethnic groups, this distribution of power remains highly skewed, racially proportional and based mostly o­n tokenism.

For example, the ministerial portfolios held by non-Malays rank lowly vis-a-vis the key policy areas - political, economic and social - that affect the welfare of Malaysians.

These are dominated by Muslim Malay ministers. This is scarcely equitable considering the two centuries - even longer - of contributions made by non-Malays.

Yet these arrangements are based o­n Umno's dire need to continue promoting racial polarisation because this is its o­nly means by which to maintain political legitimacy and Malay regime survival.

It's hard to see how Syed could possibly call this 'bargain' a "rational choice". His choice of terms is stunning, because rational choice does not even figure in the corporatist model that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had chosen for Malaysia in the mid -1980s - unilaterally, I might add.

As a theory, rational choice has been under serious attack for decades. And as for Syed's assessment of Umno's "proven realities" , these are akin to saying to journalists in Malaysia's mainstream press, 'don't let the facts get in the way of a good story'.

If Syed had even bothered to scrupulously study the government's policies, he would have found that, apart from the gross domestic product (GDP) reaching almost 8 per cent in 2000 - following the post-Asian crisis low growth trajectory and strong US growth - the Malaysian economy has been bopping up and down with growing uncertainty.

This is witnessed by the falling GDP and increased pressure o­n the balance of payments and fiscal policy. The pegged ringgit will soon come under the same pressure.

Although externalities never had a severe impact o­n the Malaysian economy - more than the government is claiming - so too have souring domestic conditions which, to be sure, have been masked by the sham economic reforms pursued after the Asian crisis that had whacked the economy sideways.

Since the Asian crisis, the government's economic policies have been in shambles. With a business strategy of protecting and nurturing the corruption-riddled and crony-infested Malaysia Inc, the government is forced to continue propping up crony capital for the sake of protecting the languishing Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

Make what you will about the spate of bank consolidation exercises, but I'm cynical of their motive.

In reference to Syed's effusive claims o­n Malaysia's foreign policy - just exactly what is this foreign policy in which we can speak of? Despite comparing noted with colleagues researching the region, I can't seem to find any credible policy hooks o­n which to hang the so-called policy chatter of Mahathir and his foreign minister.

That's because most of the chatter are knee-jerk reactions that cower behind Asian values. The noise made within Asean are as spurious in 1967 as they are today - Malaysia has not been coherent over any policy.

If Syed is critical of the DAP's call for a 'Malaysian Malaysia', then he should be equally critical of the notion of Bangsa Malaysia that the Umno-led BN government, has been spouting without much critical thought.

Because it, too, is based o­n a sham if you go by its over-arching racist political ideology and Umno policies that promote racialism and racial polarisation. The 'Malaysian race' will never work so long as Umno (and its cohorts in the BN) remain basically racist.

Which brings me to Syed's first paragraph where he says that in a Muslim country like Malaysia, "only Muslims can lead Muslims". Syed's position undeniably reflects, the Umno-directed racism, long been institutionalised in every aspect of Malaysian life.

It is odd that he criticises PAS's Islamism but reifies Umno's secularist Islamic principles as less racist. Go figure.

Syed is clever with his distortions - much like Mahathir who's ever so quick to re-write the Malay version of our history.