A few thoughts about the just concluded Umno general assembly.

1. To continue harping on percentage and quota is the wrong approach. The government could tomorrow decree that every non-Malay should give 30 percent of their possessions to the Malays, and this will achieve the goal of the bumiputera's 30 percent equity in the shortest possible time, but it doesn't improve the competitiveness of the recipients.

Similarly, handing out diplomas without properly training the students doesn't make them better graduates. It only demeans the diplomas. Quantity is pointless if not accompanied by quality.

2. NEP was never abolished. It was rebadged as the NDP. To call for a revival of NEP is correct only as far as the name change.

3. If the kampung folk (regardless of ethnicity) are still backward after 48 years of Barisan Nasional governance and 35 years of implementation of the NEP/NDP, who's fault is it? It is ironic that failure can be used as a justification for continuation of the same failed regime.

4. The sharing of economic pie need not be a zero-sum game. The approach of government policies like the AP scheme simply parceling a portion of the wealth from one group of people to another without creating more wealth. I am also puzzled how this scheme benefits the said kampung folk.

5. Umno practically constitutes the entire government, yet they still harp on parochial attitudes. Either they are not confident in being truly Malaysian or they are bankrupt of ideas.

6. Brandishing a keris at the podium doesn't an inspiring gesture make, if one views it as a symbol of a crutch.