In this modern era where the economic system is featured by fierce competition, the Malays seem to be lagging behind. Psychologists tell us that thinking affects behaviour and vice versa. Based on this, it appears that the Malays' thinking norms are under par as reflected by their economic laggardness.

A concerned government and an understanding citizenry had recognised and accommodated this shortcoming. It devised policies with the view to level the competitive economic playing field for the Malays. It agreed that the Malays 'must be given a chance to compete', to quote the underlying rationale describing this inadequacy.

With this understanding, the Malays have been given a concerted dosage of state-sponsored affirmative action programmes after Independence. These come in various forms, among others, juicy government licences and contracts, scholarships, preferential entry to public universities and sinecure in the civil service.

The thinking behind these programmes is that given these opportunities, the Malays would rise to the occasion and be on equal footing with other Malaysians.

But four decades after Merdeka, with 46 years of this massive mollycoddling, the Malays are still struggling. To the Malays, the economic playing field is apparently still terribly uneven. Seen in another way, the depth of the psychological malaise must be more severe than realised.

We cannot help but to ponder why the disparity is so great. In the past, the finger has been pointed at colonialism. But there must be other more compelling reasons. A fresh look into the thinking features or norms of the Malays might offer an alternative view, a new hypothesis, for a more plausible explanation.