Are Khairy Jamaluddin and Hishammuddin Hussien doing a favour to the Malay community or are they destroying the minds of the Malays by championing the economic interests of the Malays? I would say they are destroying the Malay mind by giving a narrow definition of developing the Malay economy.

Poverty is and has been a global issue. Socialist nations like China and Russia identified the causes of poverty and the socialist parties there came to power through armed revolution. Marxist methods were employed and were successful to a certain extent especially in providing jobs, pensions, health and education for its citizens. At no time did these nations identify poverty as a racial issue. Besides science was employed widely to identify human problems and needs. One such theory was Dr Maslow's Theory of Hierarchy of Needs.

In Malaysia, the issue of poverty took a racial turn and we have got stuck in the mess for so long. What would have happened if our nation had seen poverty, illiteracy, health as economic issues? Could we have done better instead of forever focusing on percentages and lack of opportunities and the vulgar display of emotions at political meetings of all the political parties? Why can't we Malaysians employ reason and logic in discussing economic issues?

And as for Umno Youth, do you really think that just having 30 percent share in companies would be enough to raise the economic quota of the Malays? This 30 percent opportunity will be taken by the connected and the wealthy in any society.

So we have Khairy and Hishamuddin - both well-connected and well-educated along with the middle and upper-class Malays - having the means to grab these opportunities. This happens in any society. The wealthy and educated have the means to become richer while the poor complain about relative poverty. Would Umno Youth solve the economic problems of the poorer Malays whether they are in Penang, urban Kuala Lumpur or rural Johor?

What needs to be done is to focus on the acquisition of skills by the Malays to operate and run businesses. The acquisition of skills takes time and commitment. Too often these acquisitions of skills and knowledge get mired in politics, leaving the students acquiring sub-standard skills ensuring failure in their commercial or industrial ventures later.

The best way for Umno Youth to help the Malays is to look at poverty as a social issue rather than a racial issue. Umno Youth has to work together with other races to look at poverty as a social issue. This scientific way of looking at issues will certainly open up the minds of just not the Malays but also that of the Chinese and Indians as well. Even if Malaysia is not a socialist country, the good values of socialism such as caring for the development of people irrespective of race, gender or religion can be taught.

What we have today are boorish politicians and a coarse culture - petty jealousy of others' economic success because of race or religion. As for education, this field has suffered the most in Malaysia. Even if we have many more universities, we have fallen behind the other nations which were far behind us 50 years ago eg, Korea and Vietnam.

By excluding students with good results from higher education and scholarships because of their race, has our nation benefitted? Now we have to import the skills of expats at a great cost. These skills could have been nurtured by our nation if we had tapped into our local talent.

Somewhere along the line, our nation got trapped by inferior minds and we are here today with a substandard culture. I would blame all politicians. Can we do better? The best is yet to be.