We must remove the Malay chauvinist sentiment to ensure the continuity of peace and stability in our Malaysian politics.

BlueRider's letter, ' Don't touch our special rights ' suggests that the writer has difficulty in understanding the reality of Malaysian politics.

BN's big win in the general election does not really reflect the true democratic process as many irregularities occurred in the 2004 general election.

Ethnic Chinese are a very important target voting group. They played the role of the king maker in the recent general election with their added support giving Pak Lah a strong mandate.

The handful of Umno Malay chauvinists are mostly not ethnic Malay Muslims. But being of a non-Malay origin they try to gain political mileage by proving to the Malays that they are more Malay than ethnic Malays.

Daim Zainuddin in his interview with the Far Eastern Economic Review stated that he is sceptical that Pak Lah would succeed in his anti-graft campaign because of the deeply-rooted Umno culture centred on the special rights agenda.

The failure of PAS in the 2004 general election is an important lesson to Pak Lah that BN's win was at the expense of the overconfident and complacent PAS. PAS repeated Umno's mistakes in the 1999 general election.

BN also gained significant Chinese support because they trusted Pak Lah to fight graft and protect their religious freedom.

Malays are not a weak race that depend on special rights for their political and economic survival. PAS members do not need to promote the special rights agenda to win the Malay vote. Umno, too, cannot depend on the outdated special rights agenda to face the challenge of globalisation.

BlueRider has humiliated the dignity of Malays. Pak Lah and other progressive Umno members are self-confident and self-reliant in facing the challenge of a new era. Only the self-pitying Umnoputra need to beg for special rights for their survival.