As a non-bumiputra Malaysian, I view Fairplayer's comments in the letter Bumi-bashing has to stop (June 15) seditious at its worst and simplistic at its best. Where have Fairplay been all this time? Let's get some facts straightened out here.

Let's start with the allegation that the decision to "grant citizenship" to the non-Malays at the beginning of our road to Merdeka. The Malays leaders did not make that decision alone despite Fairplay's deduction that "it was the Malay leaders who gave them (non-Malays) citizenships that they badly needed failing which all of them had to return to China and live in a political system that they didn't like".

It was the British administration who made it a condition during Merdeka negotiations to all three major ethnic communities in Malaya that an equitable formula be worked out on matters of citizenship and rights before independence can be reached.

As a result, a compromise was reached between Umno, MCA and MIC that in return for recognising the special place for Islam and specific Malay rights (that have since then been expanded beyond its constitutional origins) the non-Malays in the Federated Malay States be granted full citizenship.

It was also recognised by the collective leadership of Malaya at that time that to disenfranchise the 45 percent of the population at that time would have resulted in immediate economic collapse of Malaya.

Fairplay also insults the heritage of the Peranakan Chinese (like myself) whose ancestry in Malaya dated back to the Melaka Sultanate making the assumption that China was our motherland when I have known no other homeland but Malaysia.

What I have written about the Merdeka deal is no figment of imagination but were taught in our schools and universities (at least they were when I was attending them). The situation of "desperate" Chinese and Indian communities begging for citizenship in Malaysia and being granted them out of the largesse of Malay leaders is pure fiction.

Let's deal with the disaffectation among non-bumiputra's in Malaysia in area of educational preferential treatment. Fairplay alleges that most non-bumiputras feel the effects of discrimination because "there are now better qualified Malays in all fields and examination results are showing Malay students performing better".

First let me make it clear that any clearheaded non-bumiputra can see that a betterment of the educational quality of Malays can only benefit Malaysia and improve the chances of a merit-based future for the country.

It will be far worse for everyone if one ethnic group remains poorly educated and ignorant making them easy targets for stirring up emotions with fiery rhetoric. Having said that, it is internationally known that Malaysia practices one of the most extreme forms of preferential treatment in the area of education.

The lack of local higher educational prospects for non-bumiputras continues to be the largest motivator for many students to leave Malaysia for places like Australia and Canada. There is systematic discrimination against ethnic Chinese candidates for places in local universities that date back to the early 1970s and is a fact of life for the average Chinese Malaysian child.

As was revealed by Ministry of Education statistics, the federal government never fulfilled the 55-45 quota for non-bumiputras since the post 1969 educational policies came into play. The results of three decades of myopic educational development is clear for all to see.

Malay students lack the competitive edge in their performance because of the lack of motivation to 'earn' a place in college, often relying on the quota system to award places without the necessary qualification.

I have seen arts stream students crammed into engineering courses to fulfill quota numbers and these students fail horribly despite attempts in special tuition sessions. These university drop-outs then get awarded places in Mara colleges as their educational safety nets. None of these perks are available to non-bumiputra students.

Many non-Malay parents mortgage homes and go into severe debt to put their children through expensive private or overseas education. Many Chinese Malaysian parents become destitute in their old age because their entire EPF withdrawals went into their children's education.

That Mr Fairplay, is the price that non-bumiputras pay for the preferential treatment afforded to Malay students paid with the taxpayers' ringgit. As their education exacts such a heavy financial price, the motivation to succeed and make good the family investment is very great for the average non-bumiputra student. For them, there is no safety net.

Religious freedom was guaranteed to all Malaysian citizens at the onset of Merdeka. This freedom was not confined to remaining in one's own religion but also the healthy growth of the religious institutions concerned whether it is the practice of beliefs or the physical expansion of congregations and premises.

This is central to the feeling of a sense of belonging to one's country of birth. Ask any non-bumiputra today whether their religion has been oppressed by the Muslim majority and you are likely to get an answer in the affirmative. No land for building churches and temples are allocated in new housing developments whereas suraus and mosques sprout in all new and old neighbourhoods.

Temple and church committees are hard-pressed to expand their building even on existing premises. Some like the Hindu temples near Subang Jaya have actually been 'accidentally demolished' by over-zealous municipal authorities. The Catholic church intended to be built in Shah Alam remains a plan on paper since promise after promise have been broken by state and federal authorities.

If this is not treating non-bumiputra citizens as second-class subjects, I do not know what is. Coupled together with the incessant threat to apply Islamic law on the non-Muslim populace and pronouncements of the Islamic state in Malaysia, none of us feel that our right to religious freedom is being safeguarded at the state or federal levels.

One can go on and on about the inequalities imposed on our fellow Malaysians. I rest my case by quoting from our PM's comments to Mingguan Malaysia : "The Chinese in Malaysia have no special rights, they experience discrimination."