Perhaps it had escaped many in Malaysia that an Indian-based in the Republic of Fiji - which has a large Indian minority - had won the general elections in that country and the leader of the Indian party was chosen to be the country’s new prime minister.

This happened a long time before the recent presidential elections in America which voted in a non-white as their new president. However, the native Fijians revolted and installed one of their own kind as PM.

This saved Fiji from experiencing unnecessary bloodshed had the Indian candidate become the prime minister with his party governing the country. The results of that particular election in Fiji finally made the native Fijians realise their own folly.

And the same thing can happen with the Malays who have been so careless so as to choose candidates who do not represent them. Yes, it is true that in any democracy, it is the choice of the people that matters the most.

But before that, there were Argentina and Peru in South America that had voted in non-natives as their presidents as with Carlos Menem who is Arab and Alberto Fujimori who is Japanese in Peru and Argentina respectively.

Menem had to convert to Catholicism before he could become president as it was their law. However, when his son died in a helicopter crash, he was buried in a Muslim cemetery. Fujimori did not have to face such a problem because he is a Catholic.

And both of them have local Spanish names and they both did not have to contend with large or small groups of Arabs and Japanese in their respective countries to represent and champion for.

It was not easy for non-natives in these two countries to become presidents. They have to speak Spanish more than their mother tongue and adopt local ways and convert to the religions of the majority.

And no one jumped from their seats with joy when they became presidents of their countries, or even when the Indian-based party won the elections in Fiji and turned in one of its leaders as prime minister.

So it was only in America recently where everybody got excited when the voters there elected a part-African and mostly American man, Barack Hussein Obama as their new president. It was the US presidential election system that had caused this to happen. It is nothing short of a miracle.

In other countries that have large non-native minorities such as Malaysia or a large immigrant majority as in Singapore, the chances of any member of the minority group to be chosen as leader of the country is bleak. It is as good as an Aborigine in Australia who thinks that he can also do an 'Obama' in his country.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said that a Malay would require the support of voters to become the republic’s prime minister. But he fails to realise that in Singapore, the voters vote for the party to lead the country and it is the party that chooses who is to be appointed prime minister.

I don't think voters in Singapore care who their prime minister is as long as the economy of that country can be on an active mode all the time and does not need government interference.

Unfortunately, the first president of the republic was a Malay called Yusof Ishak whose portrait is on certain Singapore dollar notes, complete with the baju Melayu and songkok. Singapore was supposed to rotate the PM’s post amongst all the various races but till now it has been filled by non-Malays only.

In Malaysia, the voters, too, will always chose the party above all else and it is the dominant party of the dominant race who will get the chance to nominate the prime minister and his deputy, who in most, if not all, cases is Malay.

So the chances of a non-Malay being voted in as the prime minister of Malaysia in the near or distant future is bleak.

The success of Obama in the last US presidential elections has given many people a lot of fantastic ideas on how such a set-up can be duplicated elsewhere particularly in Malaysia or Singapore.

But this is pointless talk no better than secret fantasies that do not have any real basis. Imagine, Malaysia being governed by a Chinese-minority party or a coalition of parties with the Chinese dominating it?

For a start, let's hope that the DAP appoints a Malay as their president, if they can even entertain such a thought.

Or if the DAP in Malaysia or the PAP in Singapore chooses a Chinese woman as the presidents of their respective parties, with Singapore appointing her as their next president.