I cannot help but think how similar the undertone of Mohd Iqbal's letter, [#1] 'Ketuanan Melayu' is historical [/#] (Feb 8), is to the thinking of our former colonial masters or the former apartheid South Africa, or the Serbian idea of racial dominance which at the end resulted in ethnic cleansing and atrocities against humanity.

As a bumiputra in a land where the inhabitants were once oppressed by whites, I cannot imagine myself doing the same to anyone of any other race who also happens to be my neighbour, colleague, or the guy who helped me when my car broke down by the road.

The indigenous aborigines in the peninsula are the Orang Asli and their counterparts in Sabah and Sarawak consist of the majority Land and Sea Dayaks, Orang Ulu and the Melanau. These are the people who have sowed their seeds on this land millions of years ago (come see anthropological proof of the Jurassic age cavemen's skulls found in the Niah Caves).

If the factor for any "supremacy" stems from the originality of a race, then shouldn't it be the indigenous peoples who hold that trophy? And if you go by the "majority rules" factor, then shouldn't the majority of indigenous peoples in the eastern part of Malaysia be the dominating race there, which of course they are not currently? Either way, I do not see any justification for the Malays in Malaysia to totally reign supreme over the rest, at least not in the eastern part of our country.

We respect the right of non-aboriginals to be on our land, and we also do not want to impose our history of oppressive rulers on anyone. Anyone born in this land owns this land, not even a single Malaysian soul born on this land needs to "borrow" this land or "be thankful for the chance given" (as the writer wrote). No one should try to play master over anyone else. Everyone born here has the right to be here.

So now, kids, stop fighting over the play-pen, please keep quiet and the only thing that can reign supreme over me is that pizza across the street which I will devour in a few minutes... and yes, we have pizza in this part of the world.