The NEP, an affirmative action policy to assist the bumiputeras to increase their economic wealth and clout, was not a well thought-of strategy. It was more of a knee-jerk reaction to the riots of May 13, 1969. The bumiputera policy has only benefitted a small group of Malays while the other bumiputeras - natives of Malaya and Borneo long before the Malacca Sultanate - remain economically poor.

The poorly planned strategy had also resulted in a community that takes such privileges for granted and expects the government to assist them economically whenever they need money. We have created a community that takes things for granted and has no incentive to succeed.

We have also continued our colonial masters' policy of racial segregation through the establishment of political parties like MCA, MIC and Umno, where membership is based on racial lines. The very existence of such parties are the real cause towards the racial polarisation of our society.

What we really need are political parties that are not based on race or religion. If we are to progress towards Vision 2020, we must discontinue the policy of racial segregation that is still in place today. We must create an environment where every man and woman in this country is seen as equal to one another without any kind of government handouts.

In our desire to present an image of a country united in thought to the world, we enacted legislation that discourages dissent. When Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad openly criticised the PM, everyone complained that it was 'disgraceful' to do so. Some have mentioned that any complains or criticism should be conveyed privately rather than publicly. This shows how this country lacks open debates, which in turn shows that our society has yet to mature into a modern progressive society.

That our graduates and students remain polarised along racial lines is the direct result of disallowing open debate. It is true that some people get all emotional when discussing about sensitive issues, but this, too, is the direct result of not allowing open debates. To move towards Vision 2020, we must again promote open debate and allow our society to mature.

It is true that Mahathir has done much to accelerate our country's economic clout, to the extent I consider him to be quite a leader. However, his strategies have their flaws. It is possible that some of these flaws are due to the influence and pressure of certain interest groups.

The Proton project was daring at a time where the world automotive industry was shrinking. After 20 years, it has gotten nowhere. When Afta arrives, Proton will be at risk of collapsing. Proton has been sitting in the kiddie stroller for the past 20 years without any encouragement to walk independently. If Proton will fail, then let it fail. We cannot allow taxpayers money to be used to save an unprofitable business venture.

We have built a large number of stadiums and sports complexes and even a new administrative capital under Mahathir. It is no small feat, but it all points to poor planing in the past. Our desire to become a developed nation overnight was so great that we built and built without stopping to think if we are going down the right path. We sweep all of our social problems under the carpet and console ourselves through self-denial. We would never admit that we have made mistakes.

Our failure to critically evaluate our decisions and thoughts is driven by our desire to 'save face' and our pride. In short, idealism quickly took over from realism. The various administrations that have run our country succumbed to the power of idealism, putting idealists in power rather than realists. Idealism offered us a chance to build a new future by ignoring our past, while realism insists that we must fix our past to build our future.

Have anyone ever thought about the people in the cabinet? Has anyone ever pondered if they are all politicians or professionals who can really manage our country? What we really need is a government made up of professionals, civil engineers, doctors, economists, teachers and generals to run our country and fix the various social and economic problems that we have now. We had politicians for the past 49 years and they gave us nothing to be truly proud of.

We have often been taught that we must obey our leaders, that their decisions are paramount, that we should not question them. But they are also humans, and are prone to errors and mistakes, and it is our moral duty to inform someone when they have made a mistake, so that they may learn from that mistake.

Our society has been shaped to form a paternalistic society, where our leaders are like our fathers, and it is downright rude to criticise our fathers. Our skepticism for the unknown and untried continues to hinder our development as a society and is the key stumbling block towards Vision 2020.

When election time comes around, the governing party will no doubt use the threat of May 13 recurring as a mean to intimidate us. They would use this threat to equate the opposition with chaos and them with order. It is a pity that our opposition parties have yet to be able to clean up their act. They must stop monkeying around and present to us a credible plan to move this nation forward - a plan that deals with the various issues that affects us.

Without a credible plan, they will not gain the people's vote. Perhaps they should form a shadow government to present their views on various issues. It's time the opposition give the governing party a run for their money.