In replying to Manjit Bhatia's rebuttal, Odd Logic To M'sia's Racist Origins , I would like to point out that Malaysia is undeniably a Muslim country.

It is basic Islamic teaching that the leadership of a Muslim country must be in Muslim hands. For better or for worse, Umno has chosen to share its political power with non-Muslim parties in the Barisan Nasional (BN).

This is very generous since the economy is still dominated by non-Muslim players, despite the artificial bias introduced by Umno under the New Economic Policy.

Compare this to PAS. In its drive towards a puritanical and perhaps exclusivist version of Islam, it is not even willing to share political power with non-Muslim parties.

Quite frankly, the political stability of Malaysia and her Muslim neighbours rests o­n the understanding of the Muslim nature of the Malaysian political elite and power-sharing between Umno and other BN component parties.

This is no exaggeration - Asean Muslims will not tolerate anything less. Consequently those who are not comfortable with Malaysia's Muslim character ought to do some serious soul searching.