I refer to the Malaysiakini report Fury over 'disowned bumiputeras' in Sarawak.

Marina Undau is a bumiputera so I was disappointed to read this piece of news in the media recently. I thought that we as a nation had done away with this stuff of race differences amongst us under the ‘1Malaysia’ concept.

According to the report, Sarawak-born Undau’s status as a bumiputera became a controversy after she scored 9As and 1B in her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination and was denied entry into the pre-university matriculation course under the bumiputera category because she was born to an Iban father and a Chinese mother.

So let it be. Isn’t she a Malaysian by birth and having become a citizen due to her birth in Malaysia? Who has robbed her of right to equal opportunity under her written constitutional right?

She, like every citizen born, has been bestowed with equal rights and equal opportunities by the highest law in the country - the Malaysian constitution.

It gives her every right to be accorded equal and fair treatment for every opportunity that lies before her. So where are we still lagging and dragging?

The policy-makers have come out with ‘1Malaysia’ concept to be united as a nation but the implementers are somewhat slow or perhaps reluctant to level the playing field by casting aside the many barriers for the sake of the larger good.

These vital efforts needs to be implemented to create the oneness that ‘1Malaysia’ stands for otherwise the concept will remain only as another slogan and an unattainable Malaysian dream.

Every child born in this country in all purity is destined to enjoy all the privileges and opportunities as citizens of this country. The ‘1Malaysia’ concept, I believe, espouses and champions this truth of equality.

Most recently, the Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, declared openly at a Deepavalli ‘open house’ function that there is no such thing as a ‘second-class citizen’ in this country and all are equal under the sun. I sincerely hope that he meant the Malaysian sun.

According to past and current scholars, equality means the provision of adequate opportunities to all citizens without any discrimination. So in a ‘1Malaysia’, every Malaysian has a right to enjoy all opportunities that are available to him or her be they in education, business or employment without any reference to his or her origin, race or religion.

We should base access to every opportunity on the principle of merit. Though Unggah’s case may be resolved because of political interference, we cannot go on and on with these road–blocks that affect our unity. Certain issues and policies need bold and urgent redress and implementation

The writer is president, Malaysian Indian Business Association (Miba).