Newly-elected Umno deputy chairperson Badruddin Amiruldin's recent outburst warning ethnic minorities not to question Malay special rights by likening it to 'stirring up a hornet's nest' whilst waving a book on the May 13 riots should be viewed in its proper context.

Badruddin understands fully that the dominant ethnic majority, the Malays, control the aristocracy, cabinet, parliament, judiciary, police, armed forces and the enormous government bureaucracy by weight of sheer numbers.

This markedly skewed representation is in all likelihood never going to change: plunging birth rates, outward migration and disdain for uniformed and civil service work amongst urban minorities continues unabated.

Nevertheless, some Malays may still feel insecure perhaps because the non-Malays are a market-dominant minority. Ethnic minorities like the southern Chinese, the Kerala Malayalees, the Goans and the Jaffna Tamils in Malaysia are competitive overachievers by nature especially in the fields of commerce and professions.

Badruddin's outburst further suggests ethnic violence occurs because the ethnic minorities deliberately provoke fear and anger in the dominant ethnic majority. The meaning behind his statement is instantly recognisable to ethnic minorities residing in many deeply divided societies around the world.

Gujerat, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Nigeria, Fiji, Malaysia and Yugoslavia are but only a few examples from a very lengthy and depressing list of countries where inflammatory sectarian racist rhetoric can strike a chord with the electorate.

I will draw a comparison between Badruddin's public pronouncements with similar pronouncements in Yugoslavia.

Slobodan Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic are heinous war criminals charged with crimes against humanity. They were elected by popular vote having convinced the Serb electorate that their community and nation was under threat.

They told the Serb electorate they were being bullied. They told the Serb electorate their rights were being infringed. They told the Serb electorate that if elected they would protect the Serbian peoples from aggression.

The remarkable fact then as now is that the Serbs are the dominant ethnic majority in the Balkans, and control totally the cabinet, parliament, police, judiciary, armed forces and enormous government bureaucracy in Yugoslavia. This was true well before Milosevic or Karadzic ever arrived on the political scene.

Yet, some Serbs felt insecure partly because they had suffered terribly under the hands of the Nazis in World War Two, and the Croats were a market-dominant overachieving ethnic minority living in their midst. The Croats also collaborated extensively with the Nazi invaders against the Serbs during the war.

The combination of overwhelming irrational ethnic fears in postwar Yugoslavia on the part of the dominant Serb majority coupled with the unscrupulous designs and clever rhetoric by Milosevic and Karadzic led to the conflict in Bosnia.

It was ambitious politicians like Milosevic and Karadzic that led the overwhelmingly politically and militarily dominant majority Serbs to mass violence against the ethnic minorities. Even today, these two war criminals have their supporters in the same way that some people will applaud racist inflammatory statements in Malaysia.

By the way both Karadzic and Milosevic managed to accumulate obscene amounts of material wealth whilst in power like many other ethnic politicians around the world. This should not surprise anyone in Malaysia. Karadzic and Milosevic rose to power by exploiting fears and insecurities.

In Malaysia, I am thankful for many things. Firstly, I believe that the average Malay is not as irrationally fearful, nor as insecure nor as politically naive as Badruddin would like to think.

Secondly, I believe the Pak Lah is a progressive leader of great personal integrity who has a genuine concern for the poor and underprivileged of all races.

Thirdly, I am grateful I live in the Information Age where no politician who lies, cheats or steals can expect to have his actions and motives hidden indefinitely.

But as just a single individual from a minority community in Malaysia, I realise I am powerless to effect change. I can only hope that ambitious politicians like Badruddin will find a less distasteful and more original modus operandi to further his glittering career.

It is up to the Malays to examine and manage their own fears and insecurities (if any) regarding the 'pushy, over-achieving and over-competitive' ethnic minorities living in their midst.

It is the clear responsibility of the overwhelmingly politically and militarily dominant ethnic group, the Malays, to reject any racist inflammatory rhetoric emanating from their own elected representatives or leaders lest our nation remains stuck in time whilst the rest of the world passes us by.

I know I am not alone in my dreams that one day we will be a great nation together.