Dear Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak,

Malaysians of all races applaud your move to abolish the NEP and presumably put an end to racial politics as this has been their dearest wish going by the results of the last general election on March 8 followed by the Permatang Pauh by-election.

We are also pleased that other Umno leaders like Federal Territory Minister Zulhasan Rafique and Kedah Umno leader Mahadzir Khalid have followed your example in that both have called for multi- racial solutions to the problems in KL and Kedah. Mahadzir should be commended for slamming the Kedah PAS menteri besar’s earlier suggestion of a 50% housing quota for bumiputera, ostensibly at the expense of the non-bumiputera.

I'm sure you are well aware of the saying that the proof of the pudding is in its eating. Unless you can walk the talk or give meaningful actions to what you say, the people will have the right not to believe you and conclude that you as incoming PM, lack the political will to effect key reforms in Umno and the BN.

With due respect, Umno/BN has a sordid track record of saying one thing and doing the opposite when it comes to the crunch, which greatly explains why our cardinal problems of racial and religious divisions, which do not encourage a Malaysian nationality, have not been resolved over the past 50 years.

On the contrary, they have become even more complex and difficult, going by your government not dealing with the likes of Ahmad Ismail and Khir Toyo for recently fanning racial and religious hatred among the people in order to provoke trouble for the federal government to suspend parliamentary democracy and impose emergency rule just like they did after the 1969 racial incidents.

It is to the credit of PAS and PKR in countering Umno's racial and religious propaganda on the part of Khir Toyo, Ahmad Ismail and other Umno troublemakers that no racial disturbances have so far ensued.

With due respect, Datuk Najib, you don't have a good track record in the eyes of the people, certainly not by the high standards your illustrious father the late Tun Abdul Razak had set as PM. While many Malays, especially in Umno, continue to see you as having played out Tengku Razaleigh in the 1987 Umno presidential contest against Dr Mahathir Mohamad , without which he could have won, many non-Malays, especially the Chinese, still cannot forget your famous (or shall I say infamous?) remark of ‘bathing the keris with Chinese blood’ when you were Umno Youth president shortly before ‘Operasi Lallang’ took place.

You have also yet to satisfactorily explain your complicity in the Altantuya murder scandal with the disappearance of private investigator P Balasubramaniam. The people still want you to explain why the purchase of the armed forces’ European helicopters was done under somewhat shady circumstances just prior to your leaving the defence ministry to assume the position of finance minister.

Your recent action of wanting to abolish the NEP and multi-racialise Malaysian politics indicate a willingness to reform Umno to break with the past, and many people would no doubt be watching how you are going to do it. Will you be brave enough to carry out Onn Jaafar's vision way back in 1951 to open up Umno's doors to the non-Malays, or to transform Umno into a United Malaysian National Organisation which would force the other components of BN like MCA and MIC to de-communalise like Umno or fade into political oblivion?

If you dare to bite the bullet in this aspect, Datuk Najib, you will be hailed as another Attaturk who had rescued Malaysia from the disaster of racial politics which brought the country down to the shameful levels of Zimbabwe, Ethiopia or Nepal.You will have steered it on a course to achieve its potential of becoming another developed country like South Korea, Hong Kong or Singapore.

You would have shown that the racist politics of Mahathir's Malay Dilemma had no place in a Malaysia of the 21 ^st century where a Bangsa Malaysia exists with equal treatment for all the races.

You would also make it imperative for Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat to sustain the multi-racial stance they brought about on March 8 and to compete with the other eight state governments ruled by the BN’s policies and programmes.

That way, the main beneficiaries would be the people of Malaysia whom, I repeat, have shown a preference for multi-racial politics and affirmative action based on need and not race.

The whole of Malaysia is eagerly watching to see in the next five months before you become PM whether you would genuinely reform Umno and BN by advocating multi-racial politics or merely be paying lip service to a cherished concept and end up insulting our intelligence even more such that come the next general election in 2013 or perhaps earlier, you will make history as the first Malaysian PM to be booted out of power by the opposition.

The choice is yours Datuk Najib, and we, the people, hope that you would make the right choice