I have been following the exchanges between various entities in the UK with great interest. I must say that Luke Wong's letter was the first time I heard a non-Malay Malaysian saying anything about the student politics in the UK. It is indeed upsetting to see that the first-ever published comment from a non-Malay Malaysian on the Malaysian Student Department, is a negative one.

However, I tend to agree with Wong because I myself have no recollection of any events that the MSD has organised for the benefit of non-Malay Malaysian students in the UK.

On the other hand, I also feel that it is unfair to criticise the MSD so harshly. Yes, the MSD failed to include non-Malay Malaysians in their agenda. But they are here mainly to cater to the sponsored students, who are overwhelmingly Malay Malaysians. Therefore, it is not surprising that the MSD do not put non-Malay Malaysians on its priority list.

Having said that, I am very disappointed to note that MSD director Dr Kamarudin Mohd Nor has openly vowed that he would come down hard on students who disagree with "the government". Knowing the way "older" generation of Malaysian citizens think, this should be read as a clear threat against anyone who disagreed with Umno, of which the director is a loyal member.

As a civil servant, the MSD director must act without discrimination or favour to students, regardless of their political belief. And the first step the MSD should take is to look into the bad behaviour of some Kelab Umno members in the UK.

The MSD should be looking for ways to ensure that Malaysian students in the UK become mature and educated citizens. And to me, one way of ensuring this is to have a serious discussion with Kelab Umno in the UK on the behaviour of their members.

Kelab Umno should be asked to treat all Malaysians, regardless of political inclination or (especially) ethnic group, as citizens who all love the country and are trying to bring positive reforms to it.