After 25 years of service to UKM and having churned out thousands of students for the country coupled with his academic work achievement status both locally and internationally, Prof.P Ramasamy contract with UKM was not renewed.

In fact, Ramasamy should legitimately expect to be the university's vice-chancellor and he would have long been one had he been in another country. But far from this, he was unconscionably and unreasonably terminated as soon as he reached retirement age.

Even his former student 'qualified' to become head of the department while Prof P Ramasamy was still retained only as a lecturer. If you do not call this direct racial discrimination then what do you call it?

We bring to the attention of the UKM vice-chancellor and the higher education minister the very simple and basic statement of UM chancellor Sultan Azlan Shah's advice ( The Star , Aug 10):

'Thus they should find the optimum limit for physical expansion and retain experienced lecturers who have passed the retirement age.'

In fact, the minister himself has said ( The Star , July 22) that university lecturers could now retire at the age 66 as they were still capable and 'full of energy'.

If Ramasamy had been part of the majority community perhaps the above would certainly apply. Discrimination of this nature is but the tip of the iceberg against especially the ethic minority Indian Malaysians in both the public and private sector.

How then are we to have meaningful racial integration and national unity and to feel truly Malaysian? It is regrettable that in this era of globalisation we are still held back by 'racial considerations'.