I sent a letter, dated Sept 4, to the Subang Jaya member of parliament Lee Hwa Beng (MCA), which I am reproducing here in the light of the mounting controversy over Suqiu's appeals:

As a Chinese Malaysian, born and raised in Malaysia and who loves the country dearly, I felt personally hurt and insulted by the prime minister's remarks in his Merdeka Day speech on Aug 31.

I find Suqiu's 17-point appeal to be reasonable and in the interest of Malaysia as a whole, as did MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik and deputy president Lim (Ah Lek) before the last general election. Likening Suqiu to communists and to the Al-Ma'unah group is a betrayal to the support and loyalty of most of the Chinese community. It is, in short, a slap in the face.

As a citizen of Malaysia of Chinese descent, I hold the MCA responsible for the statement made on Aug 31. MCA had appealed to the Chinese community to throw its support behind Barisan Nasional before the last general election which we all did as shown in the results. However, this betrayal of trust will not be easily forgotten. I hope that the leadership will come out to clarify Mahathir's remarks.

I personally do not want this to be a racial issue and create tension among the races. However, the 17-point appeal from Suqiu was never meant to incite ill feelings and I presumably believe that that was the reason Ling and Lim agreed to it. It is difficult to hear Mahathir's speech and pretend as if nothing had happened and keep mum about it. It somehow leaves a bad taste in the mouth.