Admittedly, I have never been a fan of Cecil Rajendra's work. As the saying goes, one man's poetry is another's fish wrap. Such is the nature of this high-falutin' art thingy.

In the case of the (by now) infamous purple poem, I have only had occasion to read the original in full recently. Now, I have always found Malaysian English 'poems' sorely wanting in form anyway - internationally-renowned or not - so I am not going to bother with literary critique. What I did take offence to was the writer's implied motive.

Let me tell you that I've had it up to my nose with this portrayal of my race as lazy natives who can do no better than wait tables, run warungs (stalls) or join the civil service.

I cannot recall the many times when even my ability to speak English properly has raised the plucked eyebrows of non-'purple' people. "You studied overseas, is it?" "Yes, I was in the UK for six years." "Oh, no wonder-lah your English so good."

Sorry, don't mean to be rude, but it was good enough before I went, actually.

To me, the incredulity smells of something deeper, something more decrepit hovering just under the skin. It is something I have smelt occasionally as a student in a foreign land. It smells of racism.

Oh, believe you me, it doesn't take much to uncover it. In casual conversations the stereotypes sometimes pop out - not at me, of course, unless they feel like walking on the wild side, but at those good-for-nothing Indonesian maids. Or funny Malay customs. Or those savage Malay snatch thieves.

The undertow is always that the Malays are a hopeless lot. That's why they have to resort to such silly things as rigging the Constitution in their favour. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to survive in the presence of more predatory cultures. Why, just look at how far the New Economic Policy has not brought us!

Sure, I can understand the unhappiness (to put it mildly) of people who feel they have been unfairly denied of opportunities just by the colour of their skin. I apologise for this unIslamic state of being. But, forgive my idle native brain, wasn't that the point of all this movement that's going on - to balance things out?

I would be one to admit the NEP is racist in nature, and I wouldn't want to see it run the way it has forever. In fact, I am in favour of loosening it up to force the Malays to stand and fall on their merit. Which is why I support the move towards education loans rather than scholarships. (In case you're wondering, I got a scholarship but have been paying it back like a loan since I opted not to work with the government).

But if anything, I'm afraid Cecil Rajendra's poem seems to have revealed the hidden agenda of the non-'purple' people. It would appear that to most of them, it may not be about achieving parity after all, so much as wanting what the other person has for himself.

Because isn't this what is meant by the thrust of the poem, when it ridicules the action by the 'sons of the soil' (if that's not a blatant jab at bumiputra, I don't know what is!) in claiming the land for themselves, in lieu of the original natives?

It's not 'give me the chance to prove that I am as good as you', but more of 'give me what you have and then go sit in that corner'. It reminds me of ultra-feminists, really.

If it's universal inequality that Cecil Rajendra really seeks, then why not also rail against the behaviour of non-'purple' folks who protect their own interests through unofficial forms of discrimination?

How about the practice of giving 25 percent discount to non-'purple' retailers and at most 15 percent to 'purple' ones, and then telling them to compete in an open market? Or, when faced with two job candidates - one non-'purple' and the other 'purple' - both with equal qualifications, giving the job to the former even when the other has more experience? Or not giving 'purple' executives the opportunity to rise beyond, say, assistant manager?

Ring a bell, anyone?

So prove me wrong - please! - when I say that we are all racist and there can never be true equality, anytime, anywhere. Unless Cecil Rajendra has been to the blessed Utopian Atlantis that us mere mortals have no knowledge of.

Yes, we can spend all day playing tit for tat. You say this and I counter with that. But, ultimately, what's the point? We might as well direct the energy towards creating an environment that is sufficiently acceptable to most of us, and then try to live as happily as we can along each other.