Berita Harian's allegation against Mr Lim Kit Siang is not only unfair, but also malicious ('Kit Siang rebuts Malay daily's editorial', May 18).

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as reported by Bernama on May 6, said essentially the same thing as Mr Lim, "If they (the bumiputra students) don't show any interest, then the opportunities should be given to others (non-bumiputra students)."

When it came from Dr Mahathir, Berita Harian did not question whether the speaker was trying to "create racial tension", nor perceived it as a threat to Malay supremacy, nor felt the necessity to defend Malay rights.

From the dichotomous responses to essentially a similar position that was expressed by Mr Lim and Dr Mahathir, we can only conclude that Berita Harian's editorial is malicious in trying to tag Mr Lim with racist connotations, and trying to fan communal Malay sentiments by painting Mr Lim as the bogey man.