I refer to your columnist KJ John's recent article entitled Skin-deep diversity.

John is entitled to his interpretation of any data, and any events in this country as I am entitled to mine. Therefore to premise the thesis of his article by claiming at the outset (about my findings) that: "I find this quite astounding and therefore would like to hold in doubt some of the conclusions and the generalisations from this study" is a slur on my ability as an academic and on my fundamental right - which I have conceded for him - to my interpretations.

There are many possible interpretations of data - I could not go into all of them in the brevity required of a newspaper article. Therefore I welcome John's additional interpretations, and it would have been fair if he had instead written: "I would like to offer more interpretations."

Instead he chose to sneer at the title of my article (which was one The New Straits Times gave, not me) and made a sweeping dismissal of my work. He should have the integrity to base it on his own data or research, or on my actual data, and not on his reading of a newspaper article.

I would like to clarify that he does not have my data, nor has he had the courtesy to ask for it. This is irresponsible journalism, let alone academic practise if he was making such pretensions.

Nor did John ascertain the many checks and balances incorporated into a thorough survey - carried out professionally for me by Merdeka Centre - instead of what sometimes passes off as surveys by academics which are conducted by a bunch of university students with a limited sample.

In a nation where we do need objective, statistical information beyond the huge assumptions and claims (which John himself was certainly making) by politicians and those speaking on behalf entire groups of people, it does not help when one tries to score points for one's article or thesis by simply diminishing another's attempt at giving an alternate perspective premised on research and study.

The writer is associate professor at the Asia-Europe Institute of the Universiti Malaya.