I can only agree with Just-A-Malaysian who pointed out that when everybody feels that they are wanted in this country, then man-made barriers like vernacular schools and special rights will cease to exist automatically.

The existence of, or even the need for, vernacular schools in Malaysia has been a subject for debate for a long time. No doubt everyone can see that it is not good for children of any one race to grow up just only among their own race especially in a multi-cultural country like ours.

Yet, vernacular schools still thrive and in fact, I think they are thriving more now than before. I think if the government is sincere in integrating our future generations, then it is time to get down to the simple basics. Schools should be free from religious or racial bias, as mentioned by Just-A-Malaysian.

The government may sometimes sound sincere in its wanting integration at policy level. However, when it comes to the implementation, the willingness is somewhat still lacking. Educators very often fail to remain neutral. Very often, racial statements come from them.

Children are imbued from a young age to be biased. It is no surprise then that parents, especially the Chinese, develop this tendency to send their children to vernacular schools. Some do it because they perceive Chinese vernacular schools to be a better choice to meet their children's educational needs.

But there are those who send their children because they do not want their children to be marginalised in national schools. And this, it seems, happens very often. Their educational needs and leadership abilities and qualities are often sidestepped because of their skin colour.

When we fail to uphold meritocracy in its basic form, I think we also fail to imbue good moral values in our children.

I, too, support the NEP because I think it has helped address the socio-economic imbalance in Malaysia. But to have the NEP continue in its original form, I think, would be inadvisable for the country in the long run.

The Malay middle-class is growing and that is a good sign. But I think it is also time for this middle-class to strike out on their own, be more competitive and learn to live with healthy competition. After all, in a closely connected world like ours today, the inability to compete would surely affect our ability to stay abreast with the rest of the world.

As long as unequal rights exists and as long as double standards remain, true racial integration will be a distant dream.

Coming back to the existence of vernacular schools, they will die a natural death if there is no demand for them. In America, majority of the Chinese there integrate well, because there is no threat to their culture. When they 'felt' that they had a choice, most did not think too much about the need to preserve their mother tongue.

It was a natural progression towards integration into American society. I think everyone knows the answer to the problem of integration in our country, at least where schools are concerned.

The question is this: are our politicians willing to shed the communal politics they have been practicing for a new kind of politics? A new brand of politics without MIC, MCA, Umno and other ommunal parties?

For as long as we are divided first into Malays, Chinese, Indians, Bidayuhs, Kadazans etc, we can never be integrated. And at the school level, that is precisely what is being encouraged - to identify themselves by their own race and not as a Malaysian.