Thank you Melayu Baru for your nice piece on Bangsa Malaysia .

Being a non-Malay, this is the first time I am hearing a Malay, who has everything to gain from our government's unfair and lopsided policies, condemn the system in favour of a more fairer and just one for all Malaysians. Are you for real?

I went to school in the 50s and 60s when terms like bumi and non-bumi did not exist. We were not divided by the religious and racial barriers that exists today. My friends were mostly Malays and till today, when we meet one another at our old boys' association dinners, we hug and greet one another and have a really good time like the old days.

Back then, there was a kind of kindred among schoolchildren then that does not exist today. We were racially different but we were all equal in every other way. Nobody was 'special' .

Today when a non-Malay student goes to school, he has already been told over and over again by his parents that, 'You will have to do superlatively in order to get into a local university'.

The child comes back having done creditably well, and doesn't get the university course of his choice. But his Malay classmate, with worse marks than him, gets more than he asked for.

All these double standards and retrogressive policies were put in place by our selfish politicians whose aim, rather than uplifting the Malays, was to perpetually stay in power for their own good. The end result is a new generation of Malaysians who are not united in the least.

I have a few suggestions toward making Bangsa Malaysia a reality.

1) The first thing to be done towards a real Bangsa Malaysia is to pull down all divisions that categorise us along racial and religious lines.

2) All, irrespective of race and religion, must be subjected to a truly merit-based system in every sphere of Malaysian life

3) Have equal opportunities in the civil service.

4) Help the poor of all races advance without fear or favour

5) Do away with race-based political parties and have only multiethnic parties.

6) Once and for all, do not allow the mixing of politics, business and religion, as this is more explosive than a nuclear bomb.

7) All political parties that exploit any form of religion should be banned.

The above may look like a big, fat, impossible wish-list, but if more of our Malay brothers and sisters can support this, in time we should be able to forge a truly Bangsa Malaysia.

May God Bless us all.