I cannot but sympathise with Bumi Frus . They are sure getting a bad deal. Look at the leadership both in Sabah and Sarawak. They have all made money for themselves at the expense of the rakyat and Umno continues to condone this. With chief ministers and others who spend millions at casinos what can we expect?

For Umno Youth to cry for NEP's revival without considering factors like transparency and accountability as its key indicators highlights their moral bankruptcy. Why did they not make the battle against corruption one of their major issues as this would have placed immense pressure on the government to act. Perhaps, the obvious fact remains that you need clean hands to take on such an issue.

It is not that the government does not know this but the implicit tendency is to look the other way as eventually, it is the bumiputeras who are making the money. I suppose not unlike the caste system in India, there is within the bumiputera community those who are more equal.

What have the Sabahans and the Sarawakians got, the people at the grassroots level? Have their standards even in terms of education improved? We talk so much about Vision 2020 and the Malaysian spirit. The fact remains that unity is only as strong as the weakest link.

With the press under control and the Anti-corruption Agency beholden to the politicians, there is too much selectivity in the way issues are handled. Open up and you will find that there are enough Malaysians who will give you information about all the underground activities that are going on in various government-linked companies.

It is time that Dr Mahathir Mohamad understands what he had done in providing economic progress without matching this with adequate openness with regards to checks and balances and space for democratic exchange.

Unless the government opens up, we will continue to be exploited by the greed of those in the administration. Come on, get real. The world is not only about Malaysia and Umno.