Over the last few days, we have seen exchanges and debate on race and religious supremacy in Malaysia, as to who has more authority and legitimacy to govern the country, albeit a yardstick solely based on race and religious metrics.

The letters especially that written by Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad proved that after nearly 36 years of independence, we have not shown an iota of improvement in our general perception and understanding of race and nationality.

Racism has led us through years of social conflict and disunity. The emphasis of ethnicity is so intense that institutions and policies are being established, written and implemented on the basis of race.

Today, we are beginning to see the erosion of usefulness of these policies and institutions in protecting any particular community. For example, the onslaught of globalisation and trade liberalisation has created new ground rules for survival and success. All of us regardless of race and religion are not exempted from the impact of globalisation.

Furthermore, the new era is driven by a merit-based reward system where knowledge and capability are the capital of success. We have also noticed the 'know-who' principle of commercial success is slowly being replaced by the need to have real 'know-how'.

Hence in the 21st century, countries and communities that are ignorant or reluctant to change and adapt to the new ground rules will find themselves overtaken by those who are willing.

The immediate strategy to mitigate the implication and challenges of the new era rests on our being able to accept a new societal model that emphasises not on race or religion but on unity and smart 'win-win' partnership.

The Muslim-Malay perception about non-Muslims economic dominance in the private sector does not have to be embedded with jealousy or a sense of discontentment. Instead, the Malays can learn the recipe of success from non-Muslims, in particularly the Chinese community, and vice versa on their secret of success through a smart 'win-win' partnership.

The future of Malaysia - a success story - rests on the establishment of a united Malaysian nation with a sense of common and shared destiny. It must be a nation at peace with itself, territorially and ethnically integrated, living in harmony and full and fair partnership, made up of one 'Bangsa Malaysia' (Malaysian race) with political loyalty and dedication to the nation - (Dr Mahathir, Vision 2020)

Embracing the spirit of national unity and the creation of truly Malaysian race, we should work together to reinvent our education system to produce world-class knowledge workers whose social perception is untainted by racism and driven by the tenacity to excel.

Apart from this, we should also envision a political and governance system that is not race-centric but focused on the nation. Socially, we should aspire to create a society whose agenda is not dominated by race and religious interests, and seek to achieve better inter-ethnic relations.

On this note, I sincerely hope that Dr Syed Alwi recognises the fact that Muslims can aspire to all the power they want - but this would not mean a thing if we as a nation cannot survive external challenges.