I'm almost lost for words in trying to understand how Umno members think. The AFP report stated that one delegate regarded Dr Mahathir Mohamad's speech at the Umno AGM yesterday as a "wake-up call" to the Malays (Delegates hail Mahathir's speech, opposition raps 'xenophobia', June 21). Another described it as "brave".

I believe that one of the surest signs of true courage is the ability to admit one's mistakes and to reflect within rather than to blame 'the rest of the world' for anything that goes wrong. Come on, he has been at the helm of Umno and head of the nation for two decades and yet all the blame goes to the Malays, foreigners and Umno members (refer to last year's AGM speech).

I pray that the rest of us Malaysians are just a little bit smarter than the most intelligent in Umno, now and in 2004.