I refer to the Malaysiakini letter, English proficiency - they got it all wrong .

Like NKK, I attended a Chinese primary school in late 60s and later switched to an English-medium secondary school. It was during the transition period when the medium of instruction was changed from English to Malay. All my cohorts studied Arts subjects (history, geography etc) in Bahasa Malaysia.

While I agree with many Malaysiakini readers that politicians (especially from Umno) is the main reason for racial polarisation in Malaysia today, SRJK (Chinese) and SRJK (Tamil) do have some impact on racial integration. If Malaysia can have national schools where children of all races and religion can go to, it would help nation building.

Malaysia should use English as the medium of instruction from primary school through to university like in India and the Philippines. If India, with a population of one billion - all of who speak and write in different languages, (Hindi, Tamil, etc) - can adopt English as the working language, why not Malaysia?

Interestingly, they are accepted as Indian even though their religion and language may be different. In Philippines, although Tagalog is the main language, the medium of instruction is English.

I am sure that many Malay parents would send their children to these national schools and gradually, vernacular schools would dwindle.

Whether you like it or not, Umno, though corrupt, is going to win the coming election, the next one and the next one. Its tried and tested formula of using non-bumiputeras as the bogeyman will continue to fool the Malay masses. The non-bumis, in the absence of any credible alternative, will either abstain from voting or continue to vote BN.

So, let's hope that a few good leaders will emerge in Umno and bring change.