When Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad told Malaysians to be careful of Western re-colonisation, it really had me wondering. For a long time, I had been convinced that we (middle-class Malaysians) are nothing more than 'little' Westerners or 'little' Americans.

Our 'Asian-ness' or 'Malaysian-ess' is only something we feel we need to hold onto because we need an identity, or because we are ashamed to say we are Westernised. Therefore we are Indians, Chinese, Malays and etcetera only in our minds and nothing more.

But our lives, I feel, are Westernised. We are supposed to be a democracy, parliamentary democracy or constitutional monarchy - all ideas of the West. Our economic system is a mixed economy, i.e. capitalism with a very significant role played by the government which has its intellectual foundation also in the West.

Our system of government (the bureaucracy), our education system (compartmentalised and supposedly rational thinking) is based on Western thinking/philosophy, so is our health services (compartmentalise problem and solve problem against the holistic and preventive approach of most traditional Asian health practices) .

Even how we organise the days and months is Western - the Gregorian calendar. We're materialistic as a nation - which is again a Western idea (and here Mahathir is the biggest culprit - for his edifices are nothing but self-gratifications and materialistic).

The language of commerce or power is English. Our media is dominated with Western influence.

As to whether Westernisation is beneficial or destructive, that is a different debate that we all need to consider carefully.

But for sure, as far as I am concerned, middle-class Malaysians are nothing more than 'little' Americans/Westerners. And this is something we and Mahathir must understand.