I refer to the letter by Saad Hashim Toyota salesmen and the national language .

First of all, how could he generalise that 7-Eleven workers are low achievers? Many students work in fast food restaurants and convenience stores during holidays. Some work after school hours to make ends meet (now that the fuel price have gone up again).

Furthermore, how could he make such a sweeping statement that the Chinese workers of the same caliber as their Malay counterparts receive better treatment? Isn't he contributing to the stereotypes himself?

He laments that the national language, Bahasa Malaysia, is not used as the only language of conversation among all Malaysians regardless of race. He puts the blame of national disunity on the failure of our government to cajole the non-Malays to speak only in Bahasa Malaysia.

Frankly, I rather like the Malay language. I have yet to find a better word than "merepek" to describe the utterances of our politicians.

The government cannot be blamed for not trying to promote the usage of Bahasa Malaysia at the expense of other languages, notably English. Any Malaysian today can speak and understand the national language without difficulty, but many can hardly string a simple sentence in English. Realising their mistake, the government is backpedaling. Is Saad Halim suggesting the government revert to the old education policy?

The government is always touting our multi-cultural society as a selling point in promoting the tourism industry. Wouldn't forcing everybody to speak only the national language be counter productive? He cites the example of Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines where the Chinese in those countries speak only the national language as a model for our country.

I find his reasoning perplexing. How does he define unity? Is he equating speaking the same language with unity? I can give a couple of counter examples. The Malays are certainly not a monolithic unit despite speaking the same language. The Indonesian Chinese speak Bahasa Indonesia as their first language yet they are the ones who were targeted in racial riots. He seems to confuse unity with uniformity.

Any Malaysian can carry a conversation in Bahasa Malaysia if they need to. Why bother if they prefer to speak their mother tongue with members of their own race? Not speaking the same language did not stop them from uniting in support for the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) or in protest against fuel price hike.

If he is so concerned with the declining usage of the national language, why didn't he write in Bahasa Malaysia? His letter is full of hyperbole - just because some Chinese speak Cantonese at a 'mamak' stall, does that make it the 'de facto' official language of Malaysia? Please, stop making a mountain out of a mole hill. What is he driving at? Stir up another misguided Umno Youth witch-hunt?

Stop beating around the bush and stop blaming the vernacular schools, newspapers and what not. We all know the real reasons for disunity. Non-Malays have been systematically alienated by their own government in every aspect of life. Plenty has een said or written on these web pages. I don't wish to repeat them here like a broken record. Saad Hashim, read the archives and keep your five cents.