YOURSAY | ‘Unless a leader kills his own people, many don't take all this seriously.’

US State Dept: Wide disparity, poverty despite pro-Malay policy

Res Ipsa: Oh no, the Malay dignity has been severely battered and bruised now with this report from the US Department of State on human rights practices.

Who are they to say what we can or cannot do? Where are you, Ali Tinju and the Ikan Bakar man?

Get ready to strut your stuff at the US Embassy and bring them to their knees. Let's see whether you have the guts this time round.

Mamadias: I agree 100 percent with the report that comes out every year. Unfortunately, in today’s world order, nobody takes such a report seriously because the US has no more moral high ground since their invasion of Iraq and the mess they have created in the Middle East.

So unless a leader kills his own people, many don't take this seriously. Let’s not get too excited with the US human rights report. Let’s fight for our own right to live in Malaysia.

Sabahan: We all know about breaches of human rights, corruption and abuse of law and power in Malaysia.

It is good to hear that other countries are aware of it. We only hope the gullible rural voters will one day wake up.

Tan Kim Keong: Call a spade a spade. But in this country, this pro-Malay policy is deemed as a favour to Malaysians of a certain ethnic group and that this magnanimity has not been reciprocated at all.

So a spade is not called a spade in this country. Hence the government's definition of human rights and justice are not those as defined and accepted universally. The definitions are seen through a bigoted and racist lens.

Swipenter: The so-called affirmative policies are now increasingly being used to an alarming level to promote ethnic-based and sectarian politics in Bolehland by Umno (and PAS). Politics nowadays is largely about race and religion, and not policies.

The US is the biggest hypocrite in the world which only cares about human rights so long as it serves their geopolitical interests and agenda.

Look at how they treat Saudi Arabia and the al-Saud family who are their biggest comrades in the Middle East, who happen to be the third-largest spender in arms and alleged exporter and supporter of terrorism in that part of the world.

What about Israel and the Palestinian people’s problems?

Anonymous #70881335: The New Economic Policy (NEP) has failed in many aspects. As Albert Einstein said, “Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result is insanity."

By all means, opportunities must be given to the Malays and other bumiputera in Malaysia, but once given, they must perform, and not let them be squandered them away.

Of course, there are many success stories but overall, the results are not satisfactory.

Al-Fulabuls**t: Dear Honourable Secretary of State John Kerry, the man you are criticising is your president's ‘golf buddy’, whose administration has been touting as "a moderate Muslim leader".

So, has your president awakened yet to his golf buddy's infamy? Will US President Obama now take some concrete action against this tyrant, now that the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) has been signed and safely secured to the detriment of the Malaysian people?

When will the next golf session be? In case you are not aware, Malaysia has a few world-class golf courses.

Vijay47: John Kerry, it is indeed noble of you to remind us and the world of Malaysia's shameful record in its race and religious policies and in fact on everything that touches on Malaysian life.

But apart from the periodic reports on the realities that subsist here, what has your ‘land of the brave and home of the free’ done to ameliorate the injustices that occur here?

If you are precluded from interfering in the internal affairs of another country, a restraint or reluctance you often choose to disregard when it suits the bald eagle's interests, why even bother with these damning reports?

Worse, you actually contribute to the situation by your generous invitations to blackguards to dine at the White House.

To the numerous crooks and criminals who lurk at almost every level of government in Malaysia, your selective inability to see dancing elephants in the room is explicit encouragement for them to continue their ways.

Perhaps hypocrisy and golfing companions is par for the US course.

SSG: I do believe the US did not want to interfere in the affairs of a sovereign nation, but only did so because they have waited long enough and nothing appears to change. Events are only going from bad to worse.

They have an embassy here to let them know what has been going on all these decades. Whoever who disagrees with the government, however good his/her intentions, is rounded up and sent off to jail under the Internal Security Act (ISA), and now the sedition law. One was even jailed for sodomy after an alleged show trial.

The PM of the day was beaten fair and square in the currency markets. What he did was to complain about George Soros being a "Jew" and a "moron". He even went to complain to the international media, something to the effect of "Mummy, mummy, Soros stole my candy."

It did not occur to him that one person alone could not have been acting alone to make such a drastic change in the US dollar and Malaysian ringgit exchange rate.

Sinan Belawan: The report on poverty is erroneous. The indigenous people of Sarawak, Sabah and the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia are among the poorest Malaysians.

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