COMMENT | I remember glancing through Malaysiakini's headlines some days ago and reading, Mahathir: Wealth should be distributed equally among races.

I didn’t give this much thought then - perhaps a small nod, thinking this was a generally positive statement, if not particularly significant or momentous.

I am not some hardcore socialist by any means but I generally find that those who have their hearts in the right place; so the words that I was probably subconsciously drawn to and found positive were “distributed equally”.

So I was a bit taken aback to read esteemed columnist P Gunasegaram’s rather different reading of these words.

He probably focused on the words “among races” and jumped at the opportunity to vehemently argue: “Look, Mahathir wants to take money from the non-Malays and give it to the Malays! All over again!”

Reflecting on this phenomenon at some length made me a little sad about how and why these things happen.

Gunasegaram is a towering presence in the world of columnists - vigorous, fearless and sharp, as well as a perfect gentleman. He is much my senior, and I am a big believer in respecting one’s seniors. I realise, however, that being that senior also sometimes comes with ...