I refer to the letter written by Thaatchaayini K ([#1] Face it, all issues are race-related [/#], March 16). Yes, I have to agree that is the ugly truth that prevails in our multiracial society. The incidents in Petaling Selatan are just one of the manifestations of disorder in the country's present system.

I am a Malay brought up and educated in a predominantly Malay community. I was sent to an all-girls boarding school, where in every batch of students intake there would only be one Chinese girl and one Indian girl with about a hundred other Malay girls. This system is believed by the powers-that-be to be the most appropriate way to counter-balance the backward performance of Malays circa 1960s. I do know of some unpleasant treatments given to their counterparts in all-boys school, which I like to attribute to the inherently different temperament of girls and boys. Name calling and bullying do exist, and it is not something that can be justified in any circumstances.

In my humble opinion, a person becomes disrespectful of the difference in the way we are created by God only through ignorance. Ignorance can be a result of family nurturing and lack of education.

As a Muslim I am told by Allah, "O you who believe! Let not a group scoff at another group, it may be that the latter are better than the former; nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it may be that the latter are better than the former, nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames..." (Quran Ch.49:11). Also in the same chapter it is mentioned that mankind have been created from a male and a female, and made into nations and tribes , so that we may know one another. Nationalism was never an accepted concept in Islam.

When the nation's primary agenda is to advance in worldly and secular aspects, and minimal priority is placed on the building of a morally-sound, educated and wholesome individuals - what can we say when events like this happen? Poverty is also a contributing factor.

Politicians can harp on and on but we all know action speaks louder than words. Maybe it's time to hear a different 'word' in 2004.