I write in response to the letter Time to rebuild our beloved Malay race .

I find such an opinion completely anachronistic. Why does the author find such a specific need to single out a specific group of people? Are we not all Bangsa Malaysia as Helmy Haja Mydin ( Who is holding back the Malays? ) pointed out, with equal rights to build up ourselves and our country as Malaysians?

Time and time again people have been polarised with such a vague definition of race. Most successful cultures are the ones that embraced other people's traditions and made them their own. Why is there a need to group people together by the way they look, or from where they came from or by what traditions they follow or - at very worst instance - what religion they practise?

Or by any superfluous combination of any of the above characteristics? So much focus has been placed on these things which make us different that the most basic and fundamental fact has been missed. That we are all Malaysians. That we have not known any other home other than Malaysia and we would all benefit if we all pull together to make it great.

And so, what is illogical about the current situation (with direct reference to affirmative action policies) is that it promotes the welfare of a single group of people at the expense of the progress of the whole country. Ethnicity should not matter when all are working towards developing the country.

But here we are, smack in the 21st century, and what do we do? We constitutionalise division; we enshrine the right to discriminate between our citizens. Why does Malaysia not progress? Because we are institutionally divided.

Who cares about what race you belong to as long as you can say that I come from a good country, a progressive country, a country which is strong, its law fair, and the government working for the people?

If Malaysia had all these qualities, I would not care whether I am Malay, Chinese, Indian or Martian. I am Malaysian, that is all that counts.

So to those Malaysians who still think that race should define how one exists in Malaysia, they should resign themselves to the fact that Malaysia will never be great. It might be mediocre, at best above average.

As long as 'divisional-ism' is the modus operandi within the country, Malaysia will only remain famous as a tourist destination.