As the debate on race relations continues to dominate headlines and distracts the focus from more pressing matters, Zaid Ibrahim, who is known for not mincing words on sensitive topics, felt compelled to point out certain “uncomfortable truths”.

The former law minister was responding to the enduring argument, which reared its head again earlier this week, that vernacular schools were an obstruction to racial ties and that non-Malays resisted assimilation.

“I don’t want to split hairs...