One of the aspects of the reformasi movement I admire is that our Malay/Muslim Malaysians, especially the younger generation, summoned enough courage to engage in collective self-criticism.

Where the Chinese Malaysians are concerned, however, many are still ignorant of the changes around them and stubbornly refuse to change their stereotype views of others.

While the country is moving toward a Bangsa Malaysia the Chinese Malaysian is still fragmented with clan associations based on the identities of their ancestral homelands in Hokkien, Kwangtung and Hainan.

How often do we hear of Malay Malaysians identifying themselves openly as Minangkabau, Bugis, Javanese, Sumatrans or Acehnese nowadays ?

Yet, spurred by political expediency and populism, MCA and Gerakan are exploiting these pre-modern identities for political mobilisation.

Moreover, there are also elements of Chinese racism in our midst. Some (not all) Chinese Malaysians still subconsciously think that all Malays and Indians are 'lazy', 'violent' and 'emotional'.

It is time for the Chinese Malaysian to be self-critical. Being a minority does not mean we have to kowtow to the majority. But when the majority is doing something exemplary we should then learn from them.