As a Singaporean, I'm shocked by what Malaysia's Foreign Minister reportedly said, that Malaysian politicians and media have "the right" to comment (negatively) about the "plight" of Singapore Malays.

Just to refresh your readers' memory, there were already a number of negative comments on Singapore Malays made by the Malaysian media last December. That was supposedly based on a book published three years ago, which was taken out of context, at that. To all Singaporeans (Malays included), those uncalled-for remarks were tantamount to serious interference in Singapore's internal affairs.

How would Malaysia like it if China or India were to comment that Chinese and Indian Malaysians are marginalised due to government policies? I'm sure Malaysian politicians would protest like there is no tomorrow.

What our premier Goh Chok Tong did was to rebut what was mentioned in the Malaysian media. The rebuttal was based on available statistics on both nations about the progress of Malays. How else can the Singapore government respond? Malaysians can't possibly expect Singapore government to keep quiet especially since if the boot was in the other foot, the Malaysian government would probably wage war.

The Malaysian media and politicians must remember the following golden rule succinctly stated by Confucius: Do not impose on others what you do not desire.