I refer to the malaysiakini report Gov't pressed to discontinue NEP .

Now that the bumiputera equity figures provided by the government have been disputed and proved wrong, Umno leaders feeding at the gravy train are changing their tune: it doesn't matter what the true equity figure is, all we want is that there be as many affluent Malays as possible.

Actually, the NEP started off with the aim of eradicating poverty irrespective of race or religion but now even the government has abandoned the pretense of striving for a 30% bumiputera equity. Instead it is now openly saying that it is only concerned with the objective of realising a 30% equity for Malays.

Several disparate elements have been subsumed under the classification 'Malay'. I know of an ethnic Chinese, who as a baby, was adopted by Malay parents but who today is classified as a Malay. Mahathir's grandfather was a native of Kerala. Zainuddin Maidin, the minister of information, is an ethnic Tamil. So is the former minister of tourism and culture, Kadir Sheikh Fadzir.

Then there was the infamous Project M in which National Registration Department officials were implicated: illegal immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia were given papers entitling them to be classified as bumiputeras.

As may be inferred from the malaysiakini report Penan left far behind under NEP , the Orang Asli, ethnic Indians and the indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak have been ignored in the government's quest to uplift the standard of living in Malaysia.

I need not emphasise that the policies being carried out by the government, which are basically racist and divisive in conception and implementation, make a blueprint for disaster. It is a matter of deep concern that the lessons of other countries have not been learnt.

This shows what happens when buccaneers who have no respect for the rule of law mind the store. And the lamentable thing about all this is that there are bootlicking ambassadors who enthusiastically support all government policies.