COMMENT | The chairperson of the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute's Centre for Public Policy Studies, Ramon Navaratnam hit the nail on the head when he wrote in a letter to theSun recently that "Bumiputeraism is a divisive title”.

It deserves a little more elaboration. However, what Navaratnam has written is true. Having been a former top civil servant, he should know better.

As the nation is approaching 60 years of Merdeka (and 53 years of nationhood), the New Economic Policy should be gradually phased out to create a nation that is competitive. To further lift the people’s economic well-being, education is the key, not some status that is linked to one’s birth.

People develop their competitiveness not because they are born to athletes, but because they learn to develop their survival skills through the hardships they have to go through. If only some help can be given to them, they can come a long way from rags to riches.