I read with great sadness recently over the controversy arising from the statement made by Umno Youth information chief Azimi Daim with regards to the concept of Malays as the 'masters of the land'.

There has been quite an uproar over the remark made by Azimi Daim. Azimi Daim for his part appeared to be utterly confused with what all the fuss is about. Let me try to give my angle to the root cause of this misunderstanding.

It now appears to me that the problem began with the concept of 'Ketuanan Melayu'. This concept was introduced around the time when Malaysia was working hard to achieve independence from the British. As we are all aware, the Malays were marginalised in the economic sector and perhaps to a large extend the political side as well (remember the Malayan Union?). The Malay leaders of the time tried to boost the spirit of the Malay community by

introducing the concept of 'Ketuanan Melayu'.

It was a difficult time for the Malay community in general because they have been pushed back so much under the British rule that trying to have a 'viable' and strong Malay community in the then soon-to-be Malaysia was not at all a sure thing. So, the Malay leaders at the time used the concept 'Ketuanan Melayu' as a rallying point not as a tool to rid or oppress the non-Malays but merely as a cry to prevent the Malays from drifting towards oblivion in the era of Malaysia as a country.

I get the feeling this confusion arose when either Azimi Daim or malaysiakini tried to translate the concept 'Ketuanan Melayu' into English. While the direct translation into 'masters of the land' might be correct, the spirit of the translation cannot be further from the truth. It is perhaps best if we use the term 'Ketuanan Melayu' even in an English-language forum instead of 'masters of the land'.

I am by no means trying to defend Azimi Daim through technicalities. But I sincerely believe he was not being mean spirited. I am a son of a Malaysian career-diplomat. I have had the privilege of travelling around the world all my life. I have seen discrimination in all its forms. In fact my best friend till today is a white Afrikaner who grew up in the apartheid era. My girlfriend for a long time was a beautiful white girl from the Deep South of the US. In fact her parents are still avid segregationists.

Based o­n the input I received from these two (and many others in my journey), racist concepts as Greater Serbia; Apartheid; KKK; and many more cannot be compared to 'Ketuanan Melayu'. While the other concepts ranging from ethnic cleansing to white supremacy are meant to dominate and wipe out the other races, 'Ketuanan Melayu' is o­nly meant to help the Malays to get to equal footing with the non-Malays.

We can see today the barriers for non-Malays in Malaysia are slowly coming down as the Malays have steadily climbed up the ladders. Today, Utar, I am happy to say, is finally set up.

Furthermore, there is no longer ethnic quotas in public universities. It might take a little bit more time but we are surely getting there.

While our system might not be perfect, and rightfully we should criticise where need be, there is no need to throw mud across the table and certainly there is no need to use inflammatory words. Hopefully we can all steer our beloved Malaysia to a better future.