COMMENT | The farce and tragedy of the word 'bumiputera'

COMMENT | There are some truths that many Malays will find unpalatable.

For instance, some Malay politicians unashamedly use the bumiputera agenda to pretend that they are helping ordinary, less-privileged Malays when in reality, they are only helping themselves.

Evidence from affirmative action schemes like the Jana Wibawa project and previous corruption scandals have shown the ease with which well-connected, rich Malays had further enriched themselves with government contracts, political donations, and financial inducements.

What happened to procedural checks and balances? Were these temporarily disabled? Were people in positions of responsibility ordered to look away?

Within the Malay population, some still...