Malaysia Today, 19 Nov 2008
Dear Tun Mahathir,
I think you under-estimate the will of the Rakyat to dismantle racialism. In this era of global competition and high technology - for how long can UMNO shield the Malays from the reality of a free market?
You cannot hide the shortcomings of the Malays. No one stops the Malays from acquiring technology. You yourself sent thousands of Malays to study overseas. Yet where are the returns on your investment in them?
Think of Proton - shouldn't your Malay engineers work double hard to improve their products like the Japanese? Malaysia has lots of flora and fauna. Shouldn't the Malays dive into Biotechnology on account of Malaysia's flora and fauna? Yet where are the Malay scientists etc? For how long can you evade the shortcomings of the Malays?
You see - Malaysia is not unique in this matter. The whole Muslim world faces the same problem. Muslims simply do NOT do enough to chase after and acquire technology! Indeed - there are no industrialized Muslim countries except possibly - Malaysia!!
The NEP and Ketuanan Melayu has been around a long time. The Malays should have used the opportunity they had wisely. Sadly - your own UMNO abused it! Now the Rakyat wants an end to racialism.
So yes - you are right. The Malaysian Malay is going to suffer because they no longer have the crutch. But that’s Malaysia's problem.
What I hope is that you and other Malaysian politicians had better not demonise Singapore in the process. You and others better not look down on Singapore Malays.
We Singapore Malays can hold our head high and proudly so. Because we achieve on merit and not quota. It’s a real achievement.
Well - it’s your country and not mine. I think that you first have to deal with the reality of Pakatan Rakyat.....
Best Regards
Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad
Syed Alwi bin Ahmad
Dr. Syed Alwi Ahmad teaches Applied Physics and Applied Physics Lab. at the Centre for American Education in Singapore. His focus is on Quantum Field Theory and General Relativity. His thesis on black-holes and quantum fields has been published in various conference proceedings. Dr. Syed holds a Ph.D Physics from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. He obtained his B.Sc from the National University of Singapore.
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