It strikes me as odd that Abdul Hadi Ali , in raising the Malay language banner, writes in English. Why do you compromise with English but not Mandarin and Tamil?

Malaysia is special in this age of globalisation because it is multi-lingual with native speakers of important languages of the 21st century.

Our ability to speak Chinese dialects opens up opportunities with China. Our ability to speak Tamil opens up opportunities with India. Our Islamic credentials opens up the Middle East market to us.

Our ability to speak English gives us access to the economic giants of that world. If only we can also speak French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, etc - we will have access to the whole world!

Unfortunately, instead of cherishing this asset, Abdul Hadi Ali is hellbent in sidelining Malaysia to the state of economic oblivion in this global village.

Keep culture and language exclusive, my friend, and risk an empty stomach, yours, mine, and our children.