I am amazed to read the response of Not An Armchair Intellectual to Dr Farish Noor's article on Shahnon Ahmad's recent books (Shahnon's books are OK, Dec 11).

Surely the the writer has missed the point here. Farish was trying to point out Shahnon's obvious contradictions, not least of which is his prejudice and racism towards Indian Muslims and other 'half-breeds' like myself whom he attacks and ridicules in his so-called 'literary work'. To call us mamak and anak keling is way over the top, and smacks of hypocrisy when it comes from someone who claims to be a true Muslim and a member of PAS, of all things.

I am thankful that Farish has taken Shahnon to task for this, and it is high time that all of us stand up to those who think that they can get away with such blatantly racist remarks simply because they claim they have the artistic licence to do so.

Shahnon's latent prejudice and bigotry undermines the rest of his work, and makes his criticisms of authoritarianism and injustice seem shallow and narrow in comparison. The man may be a popular icon for some, but for those of us who are fed up with being labelled 'unpure Malays', the attack on Shahnon is long overdue.

Not An 'Anak Keling'