UMNO Bukit Bendera divisional chief Ahmad Ismail must have something unbecoming in his mind, or he wouldn't have made such seditious remarks on the eve of the Permatang Pauh by-election and before we celebrated our nation's 51st birthday.

Although Abdullah told him to be more careful in his words, the PM nevertheless maintained that Ahmad Ismail did not actually mean what he said.

Having been independent for 51 years, and we are still hearing words that are not meant to hurt the feelings of other races, but have already done so in reality. This shows that other than trying all out to garner some political gains, we could find no other reasons for Ahmad Ismail to do so.

In any place not infiltrated by politics, such as hawker centres or meeting places of friends and neighbours, such remarks will never be uttered. Instead, we will only hear kind words of greetings and mutual help. Everything should have been in perfect harmony, especially among younger Malaysians, who were all born on this land, drinking from the same rivers. But then why on earth do we have this kind of people who are trying to garner some support through cheap politicial means?

Racial segregation is like an unleashed wild horse that may instantly boil up the listeners' emotions. If we are lucky enough, we may only need to put in a few times the effort to heal the wounds. But if we are not that lucky, the crack created may be left unclosed for many, many more years to come.

Having said that, there are people who still resort to such cheap tactics to garner some support or recognition. These self-centred politicians believe that their racial segregation tricks are the most effective tactic for them to bag in the political benefits, without caring much about the possible consequences which might arise. What they are concerned about is the amount of benefits they could get instantly.

The best way to deal with this kind of people is to shatter his wild imaginations and decimate the evil thoughts lurking in his mind. Whether this could be achieved will very much depend on the concerted effort and practical actions of all Malaysians. Advice from the party or party leaders will only gag his mouth temporarily; the old tricks will be put back to use whenever there is an opportunity, such as during an election when he needs to get the essential support.

Although Malaysians in general live in harmony, there are still people unsatisfied with the existing situation, and these people make an absolutely wonderful audience for such ethnically inspired discourse, as such remarks will satisfy them with things that they are unable to obtain in real life.

As such, what we must do is to discard these people, and completely rid them from our politics.

We can only overcome the tough future challenges if Malaysians stand united on the same front. If certain quarters continue to market their racist ideologies, this country will eventually be consumed by ourselves.

In view of the current economic situation in the country, especially with our neighbours fast rising as economic powers, we can no longer afford to go on this way any more. (By YANG HANQIANG/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)