I find ES Chua's letter on 'rebuilding the Malay race' patronising and absurd to the extreme.

Malay culture has 'deteriorated' - to use his term - to the same extent that Chinese culture, or for that matter Indian or European culture, has. Change is the only constant as far as culture and civilisation is concerned.

I think at the level where it matters most, culture is about values, attitudes and priorities. The things that are wrong with Malaysian society permeate all communities the absence of a commitment to civil society, the absence of a commitment to nation-building, a a total disrespect for the environment, a disrespect for people who are different and of course an unbridled obsession for money among others.

It is not a matter of redefining our race so as to avoid extinction but the reordering of our priorities. Culture is about how you treat your people. If you use that measure, none of the great civilisations that Malaysians can trace their roots to have very much to boast about.