The fact of the matter is no one likes to be discriminated even though discrimination based on certain factors or traits such as ethnicity, skin color, national origin, the shape of the eyes, hair colour, is a world wide phenomenon.

Discrimination is everywhere Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, Britain, South Africa, USA, etc. It is a very complex social problem of this planet that arises due to human exposure and adaptation to its environment, which resulted in the diversity of the human race.

Another major source of discrimination is our feeling of insecurity. It is something which does not have a simple solution. But, on the positive note, diversity has its advantages as well. Diversity has made this world to be such an interesting place with so many cultures, food, behaviours, practices, beliefs, religions, etc, etc.

Metaphorically speaking, the contrast between diversity and otherwise can be made between an oil palm plantation and a jungle the jungle is of course a lot more exciting. It has been said, America is what it is now because of the country's diversity.

So, instead of focusing on the negative aspects of discrimination we should focus on the positive aspects of diversity which has made Malaysia what it is today a pretty developed, progressive, and prosperous country.

Malaysia will not be what it is today if not because of her people Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, etc which make us the envy of our less diversified neighbours such as the Philippines and Indonesia.

This does not mean that we should not try to rectify the problem of discrimination. I, for one, would like to see the creation of the Malaysian race in our country some day where one does not need to specify his/her ethnicity in all kinds of forms that we fill out, and in our identification cards, passports, etc.

But, on the issue of education we need to realise that the playing field in Malaysia is not level. The people who live in urban areas are far more advantaged than those who live in rural areas.

Cities and towns have far better facilities and infrastructures books, libraries, Internet access, sport facilities, etc. I think it is safe to say that town people have more money as well.

Perhaps, this is one of the main reasons why the mostly rural bumiputeras are given certain preferential treatment when come to granting places in the universities. But we should realise that some non bumiputeras live in rural areas as well. And some have less money too.

So, they should be given handicap points as well when come to granting university places. In other words, it will be much equitable to provide preferential treatment based on urban rural and/or economically disadvantaged advantaged disparity than on the basis on ethnicity when coming to this important issue of education in Malaysia.

This will give us a good start at rectifying this problem. Of course, this requires a political will. So, we should be very careful when we choose whom to represent us in the government.