AB Sulaiman's excellent analysis omitted reasons behind the frustratingly immoveable mindset of the Malay.

To be fair and not insensitive, this phenomenon is not confined to the Malay culture but to many other cultures in parts of the world, where religion has strongly influenced the evolution and development of society. This includes western and eastern cultures.

The doctrine of pre-destination (i.e. everything which happens is fated to happen) occurs not only in the extremes of Islam but also the Judeao-Christian, Buddhist, Shinto and Confucian faiths and philosophies.

In post-modern times, this is the universal challenge faced by modern man. A natural academic and secular response resulted in the principle of unintended outcomes and this economic principle, which was originally linked to outcomes in a governance scenario, can easily draw its similarities within a structured and efficient system of governance.

In anarchical societies, balanced governance is absent and in which case, rationalisation then proceeds to 'an act or the will of God,' whilst in other absolute dictatorships, the will of a charismatic leader (e.g. Hitler or Saddam Hussein) replaces the usual rhetoric.

One can observe this lapse even in the speeches of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim and even in insurance policies. That is why all plural societies need healthy, and preferably, secular opposition parties to check the excesses of their leaderships to better thrive and develop.

We are not writing to condemn religion per se, nor are we publicly supporting it. One's religious beliefs are very personal. It is the misinterpretation and politicising of these that may be disastrous, as is currently observed in many parts of the world today.

The challenge is observed - with variations of the theme - in different parts of the world. In 'socialised' western states, for example, the UK, wealthier EU members and Australia, the culture of dependency rears its ugly head in the abuse of social security benefits, which are freely available.

Of course, there are persons who genuinely deserve these benefits, but many continue its abuse after their rough patches are over. At the other end of the spectrum, one sees a different flavour. For example, the ideology of Red China during the Mao Zedong days like its reflection in the clamour and passion of the Malayan Communist Party in its heyday.

Some years ago, a Nobel prizewinning economist, Amartya Sen, showed that famines in poor countries do not occur where there is a vibrant democracy buttressed by a free press. We could draw a similar conclusion that poverty might not occur either or at least be uncommon - in the presence of a vibrant democracy, though for the purist, this has actually not been proven.

It is actually the fallen human spirit that is difficult to motivate. Different governments have different ways to address this universal problem of wealth generation and redistribution by different societies.

Even in countries where social security systems do not exist (e.g. Malaysia), societal efforts to address the culture of dependencies abound, such as charitable organisations and the like.

As long as man (and woman) fully believe that there is absolute pre-destination, the challenge of the culture of dependency will continue and charitable societies will not only flourish but proliferate. And, postmodern thinking can and will only consolidate this.

This begs the question regarding the true intent of some charities, in a society where the belief in absolute pre-destination remains steadfast in the mindsets of heterogenous ethnic and religious groups.

Then, one also needs to ask whether political parties become pseudo-charities that try to replace functional legs with crutches.