In a constant quest to create a Malaysian version of pretty much everything out there, I must congratulate our government for creating a truly Malaysian version of meritocracy.

Never mind that Malaysian meritocracy bears no resemblance whatsoever to the international understanding of the word 'meritocracy'.

But we are fair and transparent, right? The government says this is meritocracy and so be it. Who are we to question?

Reality check needed. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is quoted as asking Malaysians to give our unique university meritocracy system a chance. Datuk Seri, you give me true meritocracy and I'll give you a chance.

What we have today in the name of meritocracy is a system of blatant injustice and discrimination along racial lines. Let's take a good look at our higher education system.

We have the STPM, a default choice of pre-university education for non-Malays, who know well enough it is torturous and bears little reward for outright excellence. But they can't afford to go to a private college.

And we have the matriculation, meant solely for one particular race. But of course, the government has allocated a generous 10 percent for its second-class citizens. The fact that 37 percent of high achievers from matriculation come from this miserable 10 percent is an admirable fact, but I shall leave the soul-searching to others.

To add insult to injury, we have champions of the meritocracy system come out and say that people underestimate the magnitude of matriculation. Apparently it is tougher than STPM because students cover the same amount of studies in 12 months as compared to 18 months for the STPM. Laughable.

Just go to any faculty in any university and compare statistics of first year results between matriculation students and STPM students. If matriculation is on par with STPM, why are the matriculation students found wanting?

Is a common university entrance examination too much to ask? At least under the quota system, it was discrimination pure and simple. Now, we have the same, if not more severe, discrimination and we have people shoving it down our throats claiming it is a fair-for-all system.

Do you think any of those thousands of frustrated STPM achievers will ever contribute to the nation with the same zest they once may have had?

If we are going to have a fair education system, then make the necessary changes. If not, let's just admit that we have a discriminatory policy in education, like in everything else that the non- Malays have become so used to though frustrating nevertheless.