One week is a long time in politics. However, the storm brewing in the castles of Putrajaya is unlikely to peter out in the weeks to come.

The burning question, one of amazing simplicity, which will have complex effect on the upcoming elections is: "Has Umno failed minorities in Malaysia?" The cheeky answer would be that since so many of the Umno leaders are related to minorities, you could say that the party has done its part for minorities in a roundabout way - even if help never finds its way to their poorer cousins.

Still, I write now to help the prime minister. I feel he has been taking a lot of flak on behalf of the Umno administration, 50 years under five prime ministers. Perhaps it is time for him to grab biographies on Mikhail Gorbachev.

I say nyet (Russian for 'no') to all of this. Let us all stand back, be unemotional and look at the facts, nothing more (17 years of state-run education can do that to a bloke). I do not have the official statistics. Perhaps the prime minister and his troops in various floors of his administrative mansion can plough through all the Official Secrets Acts classified documents and come up with a complete analysis of why minorities, particularly ethnic Indians, have been treated gloriously-well in Malaysia.

Tell the Malaysian people how many state-funded temples have been built in the last 25 years and in the four compassionate years of your administration. This will ease the people's feelings, especially my mother and friends since their temple was demolished a decade ago.

The vast number of Indians who built temples are menial workers with no understanding of laws, leases and registrations. They never thought they needed to. Perhaps by bringing your team down (turun padang), you can outline the steps and help these people register their temples. Temples help maintain the first pillar of the Rukun Negara. It would also be good to have a time line since people appreciate structured leadership.

I confess, while writing this action plan, I am compelled to bring out issues of the other people too. Trying to be a writer for all Malaysians, eh? Kuala Lumpur could really use a nice new church, one to match the commitment of its congregants. Perhaps we can work that out too. No one can argue that there are too many churches in the Klang Valley. They pay for it themselves. It must be a gut-wrenching and sad experience to explain to your growing children why your church is in a shoplot.

Sedition is a horrible thing, quite horrible. While your able-minded prosecutors seek ways to amend the charges against the Hindraf lawyers, use your most urbane staff to locate similar seditious content from all the Umno general assemblies. Pay close attention to the pearls of your deputy prime ministers in the 1980s and even the succinct ideas of the present Umno vice-president Mohd Ali Rustam, who is calling for the Hindraf lawyers' citizenship to be revoked.

I wonder if the Attorney-General's Chambers would increase sedition charges if these lawyers asked for Ali Rustam's citizenship to be revoked? Scrutinise these and come clear. Allow state lawyers to focus on all statements with seditious content and thus, people who say that you are not a prime minister for all Malaysians will have to hasten their cowardly retreat.

So, you have religious places of worship and then sedition. What next?

We have heard your very sexy solution for the Northern Corridor after the Southern Corridor development. Perhaps we can hear a solid plan for the displaced estate workers. There has to be a comprehensive evaluation of their needs. Provide re-training, job opportunities and small-business incentives. It is desperation that leads many youth to succumb to a life of crime. As prime minister, you will win votes from the community and reduce crime in society. Cool option, in my limited view.

Perhaps in years to come, they will sleep in motels when they arrive for Thaipusam in Batu Caves rather than camp out in the open with limited hygiene options. You can then march with them in great unity and a sense of community - a prime minister marching with his people, no tear gas awaiting them at the end of the road.

I think your 'Jobs for Hope' project can eclipse all previous efforts. This leads us to education, the panacea for all, near and far. A bold initiative to give educational opportunities to impoverished Indians as done for rural Malays can be replicated here. Even migrant Indonesians can get their children into dentistry studies, surely we can manage a few more professionals from the downtrodden groups. Package it into a cute brand and you will win votes.

This is just the tip of the iceberg the prime minister can address as a part of his efforts to win back the Indians from Hindraf. I have a sneaky feeling the thinkers in Putrajaya feel that if they strike with one swift swing, the disgruntled Indians will run back to their places. This must be based on their encounters with their coalition partner, who alleges to lead Indians but fall over each other to toe the Umno line.

It did not work out quite that way, I think. Somehow, 50 years of displacement can do things to people. As a voluntary spin-doctor for the prime minister, I really beseech you sir, better go for Plan B. Plan A is collapsing quicker than you can say Dravidian.