When I was a child, I was warned by my parents never to utter the word 'May 13' in public. It was a word that will land you in jail, they said. So terrified was I, and the rest of my generation, that we never really discussed it in school or at university.

We knew it only as a day in the year 1969 when the Malays and Chinese clashed resulting in dire consequences. It was a fearful day for all Malaysians, and a sad one for those who lost family members and friends in that tragedy. As a mark of respect for the lives lost, this letter will be entitled 'May 14'.

May 13 was considered the darkest day in the history of our nation. But what happened on May 14 and onwards was a greater tragedy for all living Malaysians.

The New Economic Policy was formed to eradicate poverty and to distribute the wealth of the country equally amongst all races. The ideals of the policy were good, but not the implementation.

As it has been said over and over again, the government had misused it for their own selfish purpose of staying in power.

Instead of bringing prosperity to the poor, it only made a small portion of people extremely rich. Instead of uniting everyone to form a single Malaysian race, it further isolated each race and increased the schisms in our society. Instead of enhancing cooperation, trust and respect, it caused jealousy, mistrust and hatred amongst our people.

The only reason how we managed to hang on to the thread of this thinned-out social fabric was because of our common sense and realisation that the real imbalance was caused by the politicians themselves.

These are the politicians who refuse to look beyond colour and creed to form a single party to represent all Malaysians. These are the politicians who line up rank-and-file behind different banners but refuse to listen to the needs of the very people they claim to represent.

Alas, the universal law of cause and effect has started to reveal itself. Two months ago, Malaysians sent a strong message to the ruling party in the general elections.

After years of silent obedience, the people voiced out their unhappiness towards government policies and administration.

However, despite the big loss that they suffered, Barisan Nasional leaders are still oblivious to the current state of affairs. From their recent speeches and actions, it seems that they still subscribe to the old ways of 'divide and rule'. The composition of ministers in the current cabinet still reflects the product of patronage and reward.

But then again, no one should expect them to change their political mindset overnight. It will take great effort over a long period of time to scrub off fifty years of ingrained values and ideas. Or perhaps the Barisan's rusty ship is beyond salvage?

The people of Malaysia have lost out to our neighbours and the world in all fields due to misguided and misused policies of Barisan Nasional. It is time we Malaysians salvage whatever we have left of our wealth and resources, and move forward to a new future, guided by meritocracy based policies.

If the Barisan Nasional government refuses to keep up with the people's new aspirations, then it is time we board another ship that can take us all to bigger oceans.

Today is May 14.

I believe the time is ripe for us to pay our last respects to the people who lost their lives on May 13 and bid farewell to the old policies that have incarcerated us all these years. Let all races come together, and move forward as one from today onwards.