If Mohd Iqbal ([#1] 'Ketuanan Melayu' is historical [/#], Feb 2) had read Charles Ooi's letter ([#2] Paradox of Malay supremacy [/#], Feb 3) properly and in a spirit of humility, he would be slower to criticise the writer, who I believe wrote only what most of us already know.

Ooi did not challenge the idea of ketuanan Melayu or disparage the Malay race, but merely opined on some flaws of official policy and practice affecting the Malays. It should be taken positively. At least that was what I understood the letter to convey after reading it several times. Perhaps, those words coming from the keyboard of a Chinese may have struck a sensitive chord.

I have lived in many different countries including Australia. Here, in Australia, race is not used as a basis for anything, unlike in Malaysia where race precludes one from holding certain positions or entitlements to specific benefits.

In Australia, no one has special positions or special rights on account of his or her race. On the contrary, there is legislation in place to punish those who discriminate against another on the basis of race or religion or sex and other criteria. Equal opportunity and race discrimination laws ensure every citizen, permanent resident and visitor in Australia is treated equally. In other words, there is no institutionalised racism, if we define racism as acting to discriminate against another on the basis of race.

Also contrary to what is reported in the media, most white Australians give people in the minority races a fair go. Often, it is the whites who come to the defence of the racial minority as we saw some years ago during the Pauline Hanson debacle.

Recently, as state elections were in full swing, I met the leaders of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, as a concerned member of the community and impressed upon them that there is no place for racial politics in Australia and they agreed with me. Time will tell how sincere they were. Those who use race as a political weapon will never survive in the long term.

In Australia, there is unbridled freedom of speech, but I am not suggesting it is a better country than Malaysia. Each has its own pluses and minuses, but in terms of constitutional rights and civil liberties, Australia is definitely more democratic.

We should all be more magnanimous toward each other.

The one thing I have noted is where the Chinese have been, there has been economic prosperity. Most Chinese are law-abiding, peaceful and diligent. They will not act irresponsibly and sometimes their apathy in politics may be seen as indifference, but to many older Chinese, inaction is seen as action. Rightly, or wrongly, they will trade off political power for economic benefits. It does not mean they are cowardly, but that they are pragmatic.

There is some truth in the biblical saying, 'blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth' because the Chinese have endured humiliation for the sake of peace and prosperity, wherever they have gone, and the Chinese diaspora is close to 70 million. Certainly, in Malaysia, in the past 30 years, the Chinese have shown tolerance as much as the Malays. If anything, the Chinese have shown even greater tolerance for you don't see them coming out in the thousands to lampoon the government.

Mohd Iqbal must be careful in not falling into the trap of using divisive language and simplistic arguments like Hanson in Australia.

Those of us who still remember our school history are told, the Chinese protected the Malay sultanates from the encroaching Siamese who were a threat to the Malays. The Chinese court even sent 500 Chinese girls from their royal household to the Melaka royal family to seal the good relations between the two powers during the days of Parameswara. Later, when the Ming Dynasty adopted a closed-door policy, the British came into the picture and provided the buffer against the Siamese.

Sino-Malay relations have always been good and go back a long way and we should try to keep it that way.

I do not think it is healthy or fair to think that citizenship was given to the Chinese as a privilege, as Mohd Iqbal claims, perhaps rather naively and patronisingly. Nor is it right to think of the Chinese or Indians as migrant races. The Chinese, and might I say literally, the Indians, built modern Malaysia with their blood, sweat and tears and stand tall with the other races in obtaining the country's independence from the British.

If we want to quibble over indigenous rights, on the basis that those who have been in the country longest should have the most say, then that right goes not to the Malays who were not the original inhabitants of the peninsula. The Orang Asli, like the aboriginal peoples of Australia, the Ainus in Japan, the Indians in American, the natives in Brazil, the Taiwanese tribespeople, the Maoris in New Zealand and the list goes on - the earliest indigenous inhabitants- should have ownership of their countries.

Charles Ooi's letter, if Mohd Iqbal studies it more carefully and does not over-react, merely echoes the thoughts of eminent Malaysians including Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself, who has often chided the Malays for not doing better despite the government's help. As to why such a letter was written, only the writer can explain, but when such thoughts are expressed one hopes there should be reasoned debate and not simplistic over-reactions.

Whether we agree or disagree with Suqiu's demands, we should not resort to mob numbers to prove our point. Keadilan, a predominantly Malay political party has found nothing objectionable to Suqiu's demands. It is this ability to discern what is good or bad for the people that gives us hope. People must see the real issues beyond race. Sadly, there is nothing in Mohd Iqbal's letter that makes me think he understands the real problems.

If it is any consolation to Mohd Iqbal, it is the fact that many Chinese are also working hard to ensure the Malays succeed. I have many Malay friends and I think they are as capable as the Chinese. My most cherished memory of Penang where I grew up is that my Malay friend's father, a distinguished retired school principal, loved me so much and insisted I called him, bapa . There is so much of Malay culture which the Chinese and I respect and honour. I often tell people that the reason they find Chinese Malaysians friendly is because of the Malay influence.

If I can articulate a Chinese concern, it is that they feel they are treated as second-class citizens in what they perceive to be their own country. On one hand the government expects them to be loyal citizens, on the other they are deprived of the privileges that Malays enjoy. I think we have to be objective and empathise with one another and see the truth.

For 30 years they have sacrificed to send their children overseas for further education so that the New Economic Policy, which gives preferential treatment to the Malays in securing places in local universities, will succeed. With the quota system in business and other areas, naturally, someone has to miss out to make it work. So the Chinese missed out the most. Despite the years of deprivation of equal opportunity, the Chinese, and to the credit of the Indians too, have never rebelled. It shows what a forebearing people the Chinese and Indians are, and they are to be commended.

Malaysia being the country it is, and having a small population, gave the Chinese and Indians the opportunities to make it on their own. But many of all races still live just above the poverty level and much still needs to be done.

Those who have a tendency to be ethnocentric must realise there is a higher principle that unites our humanity. As much as I am proud of my own race, I must be aware that it is not something I had a hand in deciding and that the needs and cares of my fellow human beings who were not born into my race are as worthy of consideration as my own.

It was reported that during a certain mass meeting, some people got carried away and said what they should not have. Herein lies the danger. Group dynamics is a strange thing and Hitler knew it and constantly swayed the crowd with his rhetoric. History reminds us how easily people can be wrongly swayed and how prone they are to believe untruths and not think for themselves or act rationally.

But we are to speak the truth in love, even if it hurts because 'open rebuke is better than love concealed' and every parent who loves his or her child knows that.

If we love our country we will speak the truth and not use untruthful defences to prop up something which is fundamentally flawed.