Don't believe 1Malaysia advertisements, Malaysia is a modern apartheid state.

Prior to working in Malaysia, I made significant efforts to learn the language and familiarise myself with the culture. I wanted to immerse myself in the country. I left severely disillusioned and depressed. Over a period of about 8 years, I lived in Malaysia for about 4 years.

Though I retain a great deal of respect for what they have achieved in terms of economic development and stability, I now an enduring antipathy to the Malay ruling elites. The One Malaysia policy is a sham - its subtext is to tell the Chinese, Indians and other minorities not to forget whose country they are in. It is possible to find dissent in blogs and other new media, but you won't find anything in the Government controlled press.

Although responsible for most of the wealth production, the Chinese have beem forced to hand over proportions of their businesses to well-connected Malays, they have been denied access to Government contracts, their children are denied entrance to local universities and their language and culture is neglected (whereas Islam and Malay culture receives direct Government support).

The corrosive effect of being second-class citizens in your own (only) country cannot be under-estimated. The rich can look after themselves, but poor Chinese and Indians are essentially stateless.

Citing past wrongs - the Malays refuse to acknowledge that this is unfair. Some would rather not think about it, but many, bolstered by an ever more assertive Islam are content for this cultural cleansing to continue unabated.

They truly believe that this is their country and that other citizens have to fall into line or else (and the else - media criticism, withheld Government spending, police harrassment, the threat of bloody riots is very real).

In the postcolonial era, affirmative action is practised in formerly colonised worlds to empower the hitherto disenfranchised. Today, it was a lofty ideal that was misused by neocolonialists like the Malay ultras in Malaysia to empower themselves.

And the point about affirmative action is that it does not teach business and commercial ethics. It teaches welfare dependency. The Malays are falling ever further behind in the business world because it is easier and quicker to rely on state handouts than to work hard.

Malaysia's new Economic Policy is racism by any other name. Malays have to have a stake in all businesses whether or not they do anything, and virtually all business is tied up in the hands of a small malay elite. There are quotas for malays in university and in government. This together with a corrupt, non progressive Islamicized government has held back Malaysia' s social and economic progress virtually since independence. The progressive malays and many entrepreneurial chinese have left the country.

It is impossible for malaysia to be colour blind as long as the country is ruled by UMNO (malay party). It is in the genetic make-up of the malays to be constantly obsessed with Race and Islam from birth to death., What they can see through their eyes and think through their head are already distorted by the perspectives of race and islam.

Chin, via email