Lee Ban Chen's article is most thought provoking and, I must add, he is extremely fluent in Bahasa Malaysia ([#1] Ketam Lee ajar M'sia berjalan betul [/#], 21 Mac).

While I am not the foremost expert on or a supporter of Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, you must give that guy some credit for making the island nation what it is today.

Yes, we have a bone to pick on the banning of chewing gum, urine detectors in lifts, the kiasu mentality and countless other 'faults' that you can attribute to him, but the island nation today commands attention, and is often a model for other nations to follow.

To the writer, please do not insult the English-educated Chinese by describing them as 'bananas' (yellow outside and white inside). Also, there is nothing wrong with using English as an official medium (please note that Singapore promotes the use of all three languages). You need not go far but see in our own country, the appalling standard of English (as mentioned by countless ministers) and how it can make or break our progress in getting important projects off the ground.

Is the writer saying that the English-educated Chinese are deficient in the understanding of the Chinese culture? This is like calling the Chinese-educated Chinese 'slitty-eyed chinamen' and uncouth in manners, etc.

Whatever our language, we are still born a Malay or Chinese or Indian; genetically, we cannot run away from that. Each race has its own unique culture we must each learn to appreciate to understand each other better. There is nothing wrong in adopting habits from different cultures that will benefit each other.

Both Western and Eastern cultures have their pitfalls, and as long as we know how to choose what is needed and what is not, that is what makes us humans so adaptable.

For your information, Lee and his family speak excellent Mandarin and his sons are educated in both Chinese and English medium schools (refer to his memoirs).