Umno deputy head Khairy Jamaluddin's call for the NEP to continue is not unexpected as we cannot expect people in positions of power to discontinue policies favourable to themselves.

Time and again, our leaders refuse to take unpopular measures to solve problems. Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's speech is commendable in being frank and acknowledging the problems at hand, but we have to wait and see whether it is going to be implemented or whether it will remain just rhetoric like the others.

The so-called meritocracy for university entrance seems farcical when there is a dual system in place at the entry level. Years ago, Universiti Malaya's medical degree was de-recognised by the British Medical Association because of this.

Yet, after so many years, we seem to be still grappling with meritocracy. Any lower percentage of acceptance of Malay students will be taken as discriminatory. Of course, it is discriminatory, but not based on race, only on merit, which should be the case.

In spite of the political power and resources at their disposal, Umno leaders have failed in their educational policies. The correct approach should be to raise the standards in schools, in particular, Malay students' performance, and not take the easy way out of manipulating entry requirements to please the masses.

This short-term solution will only postpone the problems and not solve them. Lowering entry requirements only lowers the standard, and the graduates will find difficulties in getting jobs later.

If only there is less pride and more sense of urgency. There is a large pool of retired school teachers and other English-proficient graduates or diploma holders ready to be tapped. There is no need to have a comprehensive plan which takes time to work out and implement (knowing our red tape).

Putera and Puteri Umno should be able to mobilise such a policy without having to wait for official policy, good publicity and nice slogans.

We had been experimenting with educational policies. We now discover there is a generation of students and graduates not proficient in English and as a result, lack skills in information communication technology (ICT) and international communications, and generally unemployable without further re-training.

The significant drop in standard of English was also due to the relegation of English to an optional subject when formerly it was a compulsory subject for obtaining a full certificate.

Responsible parents should encourage the study of English for its usefulness in opening a world of information without neglecting Bahasa Melayu.

We appear to put the cart before the horse in our policies. In education, we mass produce graduates and then look for employment opportunities to fit them. Our graduates also look down on jobs in the agricultural and fishery sectors and only want jobs in air-conditioned offices. Besides being labourers (which may be too much to expect of them), there are so many openings in these two sectors like estate supervisors, managers and even business opportunities as contract harvesters and traders in fertilisers and weedkillers.

We dish out contractors licences to those not in the business and then fret over meeting their complaints of not getting enough government contracts. Surely it is more logical to issue licences to those who are already in the trade as skilled workmen, site supervisors or construction managers, and are now ready to take on contracts as their own boss.

The AP policy originated as a control over the import of vehicles and other goods. It degenerated into a policy of rewarding Umno politicians and cronies. This is hardly fair and justifiable, if not a form of corruption. Anything that is of big value will naturally be sought after, and anyone who is responsible for dishing it out should follow a fair policy which is transparent.

We now have dealers who had been given numerous APs and now rely on them to continue their existing businesses. Just imagine that an AP started off as a requirement for someone who wanted to import a vehicle from overseas.

Now it is believed that favoured dealers can import the vehicles without paying the duties at the same time. Duty is paid only when a buyer is found. If this is true, then it is really stretching the rules.

One Umno delegate at its recent assembly even suggested that APs should be left to the Umno secretary-general to dish out. If we have politicians that cannot differentiate between national and party objectives, we have people who do not know what is right or wrong, then we have a problem.