I have read numerous letters in this section from different races regarding the Malays' special rights. Some unhappy, even angry, letters from the non-Malays and defensive and even threatening letters from Malays.

It's been 47 years since the mutual contract was signed by the three major races in Malaya, namely the Malays, Chinese and Indians. And through the years the contract has been questioned and debated.

This contract is legal and binding. All Malaysians should respect it. I think that it's unfair to blame the Malays for any damage as a result of the outcome of the contract. If the Malays have benefitted from it, so have the non-Malays.

But then again, not all Malays have benefitted from these special rights. There are Malays who are treated worse than other races. They are not even second or third class citizens but treated as pariahs of this beloved country of ours.

Let's walk down memory lane back to the signing of the contract. Those who were responsible were the representatives from Umno, MCA and the MIC, which, as all Malaysians know, are components of the Barisan Nasional (BN), the party that ruled Malaysia for 47 years. It doesn't matter how or what it did to ensure its victory at each general election.

So the ones who actually have benefitted from, or rather who abused these special rights, are these three groups of people. Why do I say so? In return for citizenship, the MCA and the MIC agreed that special rights would be given to the Malays, more specifically Umno Malays.

These Umno Malays then abused the special rights granted to them by robbing anything and everything that came in sight and selling them to the MCA to be carried out (I'm not sure how the Indians benefitted from this).

The Umno Malays made a quick buck and the MCA Chinese made an even bigger buck from the projects carried out. Again, the special rights were abused by demanding discounts for Malay house purchasers to erase the guilt of the big bucks made by the robbers and their counterparts in Umno, MCA and the MIC.

The country's ruling political parties of all races are the leeches that suck up the nation's wealth and divide it amongst themselves. Never mind the rest of the Malaysians. And so much the worse for them if they are the supporters of political entities other than BN. They are then totally on their own.

Who cares about the taxpayers, or the zakat payers? The ruling parties think that they own the country and are above the law.

If the non-Malays are unhappy with these so-called special rights, they have the right to voice their dissatisfaction. But then again it's a contract that is unquestionable. The non-Malays have already endorsed this and have proudly announced their undying support for the BN.

So why ask all these questions when they have given mandate to BN to go on ruling, to proceed with dividing this nation? As long as the BN rules, they, and especially the Umno Malays, will go on abusing the special rights.

And as long as the non-Malays continue being loyal to the BN, they can continue to bark till eternity about Malays' special rights without anything happening.

Just look at the Malays who are not Umno members. They have no rights at all. Every Malay has to be an Umno Malay; if not he or she will be scorned, ignored and ill-treated. Look at the humiliation some Malays faced when they gave their votes to BA in 1999.

BN deprived them of whatever aid they're supposed to receive from the federal government. In fact, BN robbed Terengganu of its oil royalty payments which were rightfully theirs.

Malays who are not members of Umno can't even practise their own religion freely like the non-Malays. They're branded as radicals, extremists and accused of being terrorists.

Most of the ISA arrests for alleged terrorism involve Malays. But if you're an Umno member and have a company that produces centrifuges possibly for nuclear warheads, it's ok because you have that special right!

So if the non-Malays are dissatisfied with the special rights, we Malays are in despair over the fact that we have no rights whatsoever. We now even have to swallow a mockery of our religion by the introduction of Islam Hadhari.

A more friendly Islam they call it, as if the Islam brought by the Prophet (PBUH) is full of hostility towards other religions.

What I'm trying to say is that the Malays who enjoyed and abused the special rights are the Umno Malays. The Chinese in the MCA and Indians in the MIC have also had their fair share of the spoils resulting from these so-called Malay special rights. The rest of the population only know these special rights by name and they have never benefitted from it.

The Malays have united under Barisan Alternatif (BA) and they want to reform. They want to see changes. They want a brand new Malaysia that practises transparency and justice. They crave for a state where all Malaysians be they Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sabahan or Sarawakian would feel safe in their country.

That each and every one of us would be appreciated for the contributions we've made towards nation-building and that each one of us can proudly claim the other a Malaysian without any grudges or prejudices.

There are bigger issues to fight for like transparency and justice. But we have yet to see the non-Malays, who are forever questioning special rights, join hands with us to change the government.

So, my non-Malay brothers and sisters, stop whining and start making changes. We cannot change what's past but we can certainly change the present for a better future.

We should not make same mistakes our forefathers made lest we want our descendants to suffer a similar fate.

Special rights or whatever, it is the rakyat that should be benefitting from it, not the Umno/MCA/ MIC big-shots and their diehard supporters.

Let's join hands and work towards a new, rakyat-friendly government. Vote for change in 2009 (that is, if there is a next general election!)

And until we vote for a change, do not bring up this matter of special rights up. It's futile. Till we can be brave ourselves and opt for a change, it is best to let the matter rest.