Mustapha Ong missed the main thrust of LCH's comments . LCH was not talking about a Datukship or juicy padded contracts. He was talking about institutionalised discrimination in our daily Malaysian life. It is not hard to miss if you are a non- bumiputra . They run into you, they trip you, and sometimes they poke you in the eyes. One has to be delusional or selectively blind not to see them.

I may not share LCH's sentiments, at least not in the same intensity. I definitely disagree with what he has proposed. The solution he suggested is not practical because most countries are quite selective in accepting immigrants.

One common criterion is wealth. One has to be fairly wealthy to be eligible. Contrary to what is commonly perceived, many non- bumiputras are not rich. However, it is very difficult to deny that there is a lot of truth in all else he has written.

Mustapha Ong quoted Jacob Braude, who described the fight for freedom as an endless struggle that continues from one generation to another. Sons have to fight battles their fathers fought. A rather daunting prospect for those who want to be free. Then he called on us to accept the status quo of an electoral process, where the dices are heavily loaded in favour of the dominant communal party.

We are to forget that the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against the opposition as the dominant communal party has total control of the electronic and mass media, complete access to government resources, and a well-oiled election machinery flushed with funds of dubious sources. To top it all, the electoral battle has to be fought over a terrain of extensively gerrymandered constituencies.

According to Mustapha, we are to accept such a regime and subserviently swallow what is dished out to us by such an elected government. Is this the struggle for freedom that J Braude was referring to? I do not recall any mention of total submission.

They are many who might kiss the ground of that leader who has most efficiently and effectively exploited this system walks on. Without a doubt, he was power personified in Malaysia. Until a few days ago he was the master of the Malaysian universe. Some may think he is Malaysia's gift to the world, and actually believes he has contributed immensely to the world. They have every right to do so.

It is just that there those who do not share or believe such adulation. For some, a well-made Disney animation movie has contributed more to mankind than this person will ever can even if he lives to a hundred.

I agree with JB Priestly: "The noisy, empty, 'patriotic', not the critic, is dangerous citizen". I am not a blustering super patriot, therefore I could do the nation no harm. Thank you, Priestly, for the affirmation.

Mustapha Ong reminds me of a movie of an emperor's life story. There was a scene where the emperor, after being deposed and powerless, was sent to a concentration camp. There he encountered some of the eunuchs and courtiers who had served him before. Out of habit, they rush to kowtow to the powerless emperor, much to his embarrassment.

Perhaps for long serving servants, civil or the domestic kind, it must be very difficult to lose their subservient disposition and fawning habit. Especially for one who has served for more that 30 years.

That said, I do not see why Mustapha Ong should be insulted and humiliated by LCH's remarks. I fail to detect any connection except that they may share a common ethnic decent. Mustapha Ong may be of Chinese decent but somehow it is hard to shake the impression that he is no longer in touch with that community.