After reading many letters in malaysiakini from Malay writers who support the appeals made by [#1]Suqiu[/#], I got to thinking how true are the government's claim that a large majority of the Malays in this country are against a change in the constitution that would erode many of the special rights Malays enjoy.

If this issue occurred in any first-world nation (and many other third-world nations too, I might add), many opinion polls would already have been conducted to gauge the will of the people.

But here, in Malaysia, members of the government are making sweeping statements about the Malays feeling this and that, all without any statistical data to back them up. Maybe our leaders have some sort of psychic ability to look into the hearts of the people?

Perhaps a two-stage approach should be taken to settle this Suqiu matter once and for all.

Firstly, there should be a massive poll conducted by neutral NGOs to see what the people (not just the Malays, but the non-Malays too; it's their country too, after all) feel. Based on the results, only then will there be a clear indication of what the next step should be.

Secondly, if the people feel that a change is necessary, then the government should call for a referendum to be held over the issue. We are talking about the constitution, the most sacred legal document that defines who we are as a nation and as a society. In most other nations, when its constitution is to undergo a major change, the only way such a change can take place is through a referendum that clearly states the will of the people.