I refer to the letters Why bother waking up at 3am to study? and A daughter devastated, a mother with no answers .

I read with great sadness the above letters by ‘Disappointed Student’ and ‘A School Teacher’. I can totally associate myself with the feelings that they're going through because I myself was a victim like them.

I was educated in one of the better-known government schools in Petaling Jaya. I had a ball of a time being a student there ie, being active in extracurricular activities etc. I had a Malay lady teaching me Moral Studies and my classmates and I were told that in exchange for citizenship, we should be loyal to King and country which was something that made sense. However, it is apparent that the country doesn't really care for the loyalty that so many other Malaysians and I have shown.

Back then, it was not popular for students to attempt more than nine subjects. Hence, I only took nine subjects for which I scored all straight A1s (as it was known back then). I distinctly remember the joy that I felt when I received my results knowing that it will improve my chances of getting a scholarship. During and after Form 5, my less fortunate friends and I were frantically sending our CVs to every known institution that offered scholarships for the course we wanted to study. We were tortured by the anxious wait of replies with sleepless nights and fears of rejection.

Alas, the sum of all my fears were confirmed when all of the institutions had given their reply of rejection. Until today, reading a letter that starts with ‘I am sorry to inform you that...’ still sends a shiver up my spine. However, my friends who happen to be bumiputera got the courses which they applied for under government and GLC scholarships despite the fact that they did not do as well as my friends and I. But yet they got it. This kind of situation only promotes animosity between the races and it is the Malaysian government that should be blamed for promoting open discrimination.

Just recently, I met a bumi classmate of mine back in secondary school who was awarded a scholarship for medicine. He told me that he was sent to the UK to study medicine but couldn't make the cut in the first year. He repeated that year and failed again. He then switched his degree to geology and it was still under a government scholarship! How ridiculous is that?

Now, the natural option for non-bumi students who could not afford to attend private institutions of higher learning after SPM is the STPM. I was too disappointed and disheartened to study for the exams. My morale back then was at an all-time low. I neglected my studies and did not attend almost half the classes. For obvious reasons, I barely passed the STPM examination and that gravely hurt my chances of getting even into local universities. Instead of going to classes, I worked in a car repair shop becoming a grease monkey.

There, I got to know that many of my colleagues were school drop-outs. Now, these former colleagues of mine were extremely good in what they do. When I queried them about the reason they dropped out, the consistent answer among them was that they had no interest while in school. They were cast to the ' kelas terakhir ' where there was an automatic stigma of laziness and incompetence attached to them. I believe that the system has neglected them and their skills are talent are not properly groomed.

After two-and-a-half years as a grease monkey, I managed to accumulate enough money to enroll myself at a local institution for a diploma in mechanical engineering. I did this upon the encouragement of my parents and my boss at the workshop. It was when I completed the diploma that I spotted an advertisement in the newspaper about job opportunities in the airline industry in a neighbouring country. I tried my luck, got called for the interview, got accepted, and was trained in Australia.

Today, I am grateful to my adopted home for the opportunities given to me. I wasn't surprised to know that most employees in this particular company are either ex-Malaysians or going to be ex-Malaysians. This is despite the fact that this company is one of the star symbols of Malaysia's neighbouring country. I've been told by my senior colleagues that in order to move up the management ladder in company, it is better to give up my status as a Malaysian and get the citizenship of my adopted home.

I am currently undergoing courses to take up this neighbouring country's citizenship. I know very well that once I've given my Malaysian citizenship up, there is no way to get it back again. The fact that Malaysia is obsessed with proportionate racial representation in every aspect of life i.e. they medical profession should be made up of 70% bumis because Malaysia has 70% bumis makes me sick. This has done nothing but to hurt Malaysia's progress.

After 50 years of independence, Umno still doubts the sincerity of the non-bumis in helping Malaysia as a whole. The institutional racial politics that divide Malaysia today are doing nothing but hurting the young minds in Malaysia. I would like to advise ‘Disappointed Student’ and ‘A School Teacher’ to look for opportunities in this neighbouring country or beyond. I know that a country with a first -class mentality will definitely not let someone as talented as you go.