The Umno general assembly recently resolved, among other things, to revive the NEP. This is due to the fact that there has been almost a regression in the policy's achievements. Every one in the august hall at the Putra World Trade Centre pretended to be surprised as this and came out with all kinds of rhetoric.

The answers are simple enough and I suspect that they knew them all along. First, it's the 'leakages', which are staggering. Billions of ringgit meant for the rakyat have been hijacked for useless projects like Putrajaya etc.

Second is corruption. It is so deeply ingrained in our daily lives. Corruption is rampant in both the private and public sectors and I suspect it is more common in the private sector.

Third is politics. Everyone seems to be scratching their head wondering why the Malays are not excelling in certain fields and why some facilities are even not taken up. How can they when more than a million Malays from Kelantan and only until lately, Terengganu, were barred from receiving any government aid.

These people somehow must be punished, at any cost, because they did not vote for the Barisan Nasional.

Fourth is ignorance. Sad to say, but I don't think Pak Lah has assembled the best brains for his cabinet.