The following is an open letter to Muhyiddin Yassin, vice-president of Umno and agriculture and agro-based industries minister.

Dear Tan Sri,

I am borrowing the question raised by Malaysian in his letter to malaysiakini entitled Asli report: Muhyiddin's threat disappointing as the topic of my letter to you. Like Malaysian, I, too, was disappointed with Tan Sri's remarks on the controversial bumiputera equity debate.

You have spoken twice on the matter within the last one week. It shows the subject is of great interest and importance to you. My earlier statements have asked you to disclose the methodology used by the Economic Planning Unit to determine the percentage of equity held by different ethnic Malaysians and foreigners instead of discrediting the facts and figures presented by Asli.

I certainly did not expect you to describe Asli's findings as 'rubbish' and worse still, you even threatened to take action against Asli if the think-tank refuses to withdraw their report. And what were you thinking about when you said that '...as a Malay, I'm very angry'. What were you angry about?

I think Malaysian is right. How long can Umno leaders rule with secrecy and threats? Singapore's Business Times has a report, 'Malaysian insight: A lack of openness is driving investors away', which I find very sensible and relevant to the debate today. Tan Sri, I highlight the last few paragraphs for you to read and ponder over. I think the concern expressed in the report is well-founded. Secrecy and threats may only work for some period of time.

"A report on the New Economic Policy (NEP) by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli) Centre for Public Policy Studies has concluded that bumiputeras actually own closer to 45 per cent of Malaysian corporate equity - or more than double the government's figure of 19 per cent.

"There are significant implications should Asli's figures be accurate, since the continuation of the national policy is based on the premise that the stated objective of ensuring bumiputeras hold a third of the country's wealth has not been achieved.

"Both Asli and the government use different methodology and mechanisms to reach their conclusions. Already, the top leadership has dismissed the think-tank's report as inaccurate, irresponsible and liable to incite anger - in other words, the less said the better.

"But don't expect the debate to end. It will continue to be discussed - if not openly in mainstream media - in homes, offices, coffee-shops and online. As Malaysia continues to argue the pros and cons of extending the NEP indefinitely, refusing to address larger and more pressing issues, investors - local and foreign - will continue to head for greener pastures. And Malaysia's competitors will undoubtedly pull even further ahead."

My challenge to you, Tan Sri, remains unchanged: please show us how the government's figure of 18.9% was concluded. Or prove to us in what ways the 45% figure put forward by Asli was erroneous?

To calculate the value of equity, it's wrong to base it on par value instead of market value. The par value simply cannot reflect the real value of any share or equity for that matter. And the value of one Hwa Tai share cannot match the value of one Maybank share although their par values may be of same value.

And no one is saying the Malay poor needs no more help from the government. In fact, all Malaysian poor needs help from the government. No government should neglect or marginalise the poor. To help the poor and close the gap between the haves and have-nots is a duty and obligation no government can run away from.

You are correct to point out that many of our bumiputera brothers and sisters in Sabah and Sarawak are still poor. But did you do anything significant and substantial to help them in the past? Did you do anything to stop both the chief ministers in these two states from amassing wealth for themselves?

I believe Asli was put under tremendous pressure to withdraw its findings and apologise to the government. I am not overly surprised that Mirzan Mahathir, the chairman of Asli, eventually succumbed to the pressure and was forced to withdraw the study and findings of his institution. This is followed by the shock resignation of the report's author Dr Lim Teck Ghee today.

But Tan Sri, the fact remains unchanged that Asli's 45% figure has not been proven incorrect by the government. And ordinary Malaysians would have more reasons to believe that Asli's figure is more accurate than the 18.9% figure concocted by the government.

And many Malaysians will start thinking (they are not allowed to say) that the basis to continue with the NEP (nicknamed 'Never Ending Policy') is not valid. And sooner or later, the Malay poor will realise that the NEP is not helping them after all but is just a vehicle to enrich a handful of well-connected Malays.

And the entire nation and its people have to pay a heavy price for an outdated, ineffective and self-defeating economic policy. Tan Sri, I put it to you that the NEP is destroying the Malays , a claim made by no less a personality than the former Guthrie and PNB boss Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

Your former colleague Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was also of a similar view. He, too, has said that the NEP has outlived its usefulness after all these years. I, too, would also argue that the NEP is depriving the rights of non-Malays.

In fact, Malaysians now are saying that the denial on your part is to cover up the fact that wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few bumiputera elite. Some feel that it is Umno's underarm tactic to understate the wealth of bumiputera so that people like you can continue to mislead the Malay poor for their support. How I wish there is no truth in such arguments.

And please tell your colleagues not to turn this debate into a racial spat and bring up the ugly May 13 incident to threaten the non-Malays again. I notice that some overzealous writers in the Malay press have attempted to do this. This would not work except to make the debate meaningless and leave a very bad taste.

It's time for the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government to admit the anomalies of the NEP and move forward with a colour-blind economic policy for all Malaysians. I trust you to talk to all your peers in the cabinet and convince them that they can no longer rule with secrecy and threats.

The writer is a DAP central executive committee member and the party's NGO bureau chief.