I am a foreigner who have lived here for four years and take a keen interest in local affairs, politics, etc, in my adopted country. I just cannot believe the patronising and naivety of the comments made by the writer. I have friends from all races here in Malaysia, and we often discuss, usually in a positive way, the various issues concerning racism and the inequalities that exist here.
A few of the statements made in FN's letter almost beggar belief. Maybe he/she is deliberately trying to be provocative. One statement that I believe most non-bumiputeras would find most offensive is this:
"The Malays have been given bumiputera status in Malaysia, meaning that the 'sons of soil' should be given priority in terms of political and financial interests. Not to forget, Chinese are only immigrants."
Is it not the case that the Malay race themselves were originally immigrants to the peninsular? Does FN seriously believe that Malaysia will prosper in an environment where one race is not only given unfair advantage over all other races but encouraged to feel superior over fellow races?
Malaysia will never become a fully developed country, both physically and mentally, until all races regard themselves as Malaysian first with race coming a distant second consideration.
A second quote from FN also demonstrates his rather blinkered view of the world in which we all live and how the economy operates:
"I feel that the government should further restrict the economic interests of the Chinese because there are just not enough wealthy Malays in the country to bring about a balance in wealth distribution."
The final sentence in his diatribe demonstrates his rather sad and patronising attitude to his fellow countrymen:
"Whether the Chinese are being marginalised or not is not important. The Chinese just have to accept the fact that living in Malaysia means they have to be subordinate to the 'sons of the soil'."
I don't think I really need to make any further comments. These three unbelievably racist comments speak volumes for themselves. I just felt incensed enough to respond to what I believe is an unforgivable piece of nonsense.