I refer to the letter A true blue Malaysia Boleh story .

Some 20 years ago, when I was working in Singapore and making my way back to the island republic after visiting my parents in KL, I chanced upon a road accident in Johor Baru. A scooter rider was lying on the road while the driver of the car who obviously hit him looked upon in either a state of confusion or apathy.

I stopped (causing a traffic jam in a short time), carried the man into my back seat and drove him to the nearest police station since I did not know where the hospital was. The police took over from that point.

At the accident site (where a crowd had gathered pondering the situation), I had debated momentarily about moving him but decided then that I would chance it knowing that calling ambulances, etc, would only delay matters. Hearing about Zara Davies' experience, 24 years later, tells me that not much has changed with respect to emergency response services in Malaysia.

In contrast, I was at a restaurant some time ago in the US when an older lady had a heart attack when she sat down to eat. There was brief hesitation among the diners but the restaurant manager began to go to the aid of the lady. Instinctively, I picked her up and laid her on the ground and started to do CPR on her while my wife tracked her pulse and timed me.

At once, some other diners called for an ambulance which arrived there in full force (police, paramedics and fire personnel) within six minutes of calling. They took over and had her wheeled out after stabilising her. I heard, from the restaurant manager a week later, that she lived, which made me feel good that I had contributed a little in helping her.

In the 50 years since our independence, I am reminded of the utter failure of our nation-building efforts and in the fostering of greater relations between the races. Despite all the claims from the BN of our 'aman dan tenteram' co-existence atmosphere between the various races, the truth is that deep-seated suspicions, extreme selfishness, personal greed and aggrandisement are the more accurate reflections of our society today.

This is where we have 'progressed' to and we can see it all in this single incident of a poor young man who lost his life while the bystanders, including the ambulance dispatcher, debated his involvement (or lack of) in the event.

I am also reminded why, despite my strong ties to the land of my birth, I cannot go back permanently, preferring the US (despite its many faults) as my principal homeland. Yes, we have issues here but despite all the racial differences, I feel the compassion more here.

Emergencies (like accidents) bring people together here more instinctively than back home in Malaysia. That, makes me shameful and sad about Malaysia. While we claim to make progress in all other outward facets and brag about our 'Asian values', incidents like the one Zara experienced tell me how far yet we have to go.

Someone once said that 'we may have gone to the Moon, but the greatest distance to be traversed lies within us'. In the light of our planned 'Malaysia boleh' astronautic adventures, this seems to ring so true - literally. Perhaps the government should start working on the fundamentals like civic education and teach of the commonalities between the rakyat rather than exaggerate the racial differences as is their current clarion call.