I refer to the letter Tweak NEP to banish race factor. I agree that the NEP requires 'tweaking'. The structure of the NEP should be changed from a race-based support system to a poverty eradication support system. It must be important to note that by no means must meritocracy be seen as a replacement for the NEP because meritocracy favours the rich and upper classes.

The NEP was designed to assist the indigenous Malaysians (bumiputeras) ie, the Malays and Orang Asli. Unfortunately, it has instead created many social problems within this community such as Mat Rempits, 'bohsia' and 'penagih dadah' (drug addicts).

The chief reason was the lack of sincerity in implementing the policy. As in all races, you have those who are more aggressive and you have those who are less aggressive. Of course, the stronger individuals of the community will usurp and take away from the weaker ones. That is human nature.

Why did the NEP fail? It placed too much emphasis on formal education. There is a ceiling to the number of lawyers, architects, computer programmers, etc, that the job market can absorb. Thus, many areas of the economy which do not require formal education have been neglected. These include the arts, music, theatre, sports, entertainment and uniformed institutions such as the fire brigade, police, army, navy, air force, etc.

In the end, many graduates who came into being as a result of the NEP are either unemployed or are forced to look overseas for work in Australia, US and the UK.

The NEP has caused within the bumiputera community two distinct divisions - the privileged and the underprivileged. The privileged are in the minority, that is the few with university degrees as well as the beneficiaries of cronyism and nepotism which have become part and parcel of the NEP.

The underprivileged are those who face the full brunt of the grim realties of the Malaysia employment scenario - low wages, a high cost of living, lack of advancement opportunities, no social welfare and assistance, easy access to 'dadah' (illicit drugs) and poor enforcement of women's rights (eg, polygamy).

These problems have exacerbated because of the skewed emphasis of the present NEP instead of having a more balanced NEP which would instead aim to redistribute wealth between the rich and the poor.

The NEP should have incorporated time and tested basic economic tools to help the poor such as minimum wage legislation, increasing of capital gains tax (to prevent spiraling property prices), higher tax for the super rich (millionaires and billionaires who will have to pay at tax rate of 40% to 60%), price controls on essential items and financial assistance to single mothers, the elderly, the handicapped, etc.

The recent budget's announcement of RM300 monthly to help the hardcore poor is laughable in the light of the billions spent to bail out wasteful and corrupt companies.