I agree with the views of Arbibi Ashoy expressed in his letter Inner circle' milking country while rakyat suffers.

The 'inner circle' comprises various ethnic groups. Most of my Chinese ex-classmates, who were average students at school, became rich in 10 years after leaving school by having close links with political parties. They are not active in politics yet they managed to 'score' many big projects by becoming strong supporters of political parties. Surely their business partners include bumiputeras.

They own big luxury houses, drive Ninjas or Mercedes Benzes and go on holiday abroad like we take a bus ride. Who can say that only bumiputeras benefit from NEP?

In his letter, Arbibi also said the following: 'Worst of all is the neglect of unfortunate Malaysians such as the handicapped, the sick and diseased, the unemployable (suffering from mental illnesses) and the elderly'.

That is true. I have a brilliant Chinese friend who has hearing disability. Since leaving school, she has worked at a fast-food outlet. There she managed to save a little more than RM1,000. Unfortunately, she lost almost all of that RM1,000 in SAS (Saham Amanah Sabah) that has proven to be a disastrous decision for its investors.

Given only RM20 by her sibling on a monthly basis, she turned to the welfare department in Kota Kinabalu and enquired about the possibility of getting a monthly financial aid of RM70. She went there several times only to find that the staff there were not happy with her appearance. They also said that there was no money for her and told her not to come again.

She now says she'd like to become a farmer to eke out a living. The hurdle is that her family doesn't own a square inch of land. Consequently, the poor girl cries almost every day. Since then she has slipped into depression and is now a patient with a severe mental disorder.

Sadly, she has friends, both Chinese and bumiputera, with disabilities who also face the same living conditions like hers. No hopes, no smiles, no future.