I am writing in response to Hurt Malaysian Chinese's letter, [#1]Is PM saying he's dishonest?[/#] (Dec 14). The writer readily pronounces him/herself a thinking person, yet just as readily also as a "Chinese". That, to me, is the crux of the problem to this whole debate.

An innocuously Malaysian agenda promoted by Suqiu ran into problems because Suqiu made the strategic blunder of having it identified in public perception as an agenda exclusively of the Chinese Malaysian community.

Rightly or wrongly, it gives the impression that Chinese Malaysians have the monopoly on wisdom on what is best for the country. Even if this were true, it should be obvious to any thinking Malaysian that this is just asking for trouble.

In essence, what Suqiu was promoting is akin to Singapore's policy of meritocracy. That earlier episode ended in Singapore having to leave the Malaysian federation and it did not end there. This same issue continues to be the thorn that periodically irritates Singapore's relations with Malaysia and, most recently, with Indonesia.

In my estimation, what is best for Malaysia is a country at peace with itself, its people free to pursue lives with dignity and decency. By almost any yardstick, in the last four decades, we have devised a system uniquely suited to our peculiar needs and the times and which has helped almost all Malaysians to progress, some more than others. It is not perfect and needs to be re-engineered from time to time. This will have to be a collective effort involving all Malaysians if it is to be meaningful and effective.

Before we raise our voice in righteous anger against the government or the "system", we will do well to look inward and ask: Have we ourselves changed with the times? Perhaps we have, but not to the extent that we are slower to get angry over a perceived slight to us as "Chinese Malaysian" than as simply "Malaysian". Is it maybe premature to expect our government, which after all reflects our collective will, to change if we ourselves have not committed to cross the proverbial Rubicon?