With regard to Muslim Student's letter ('Life is in the future, not the past', Sept 8) which was in response to mine, perhaps the meaning of my letter was lost on him. To draw parallels between racist tendencies instilled and propagated by a certain few within our own nation and that propagated by Israel is by no means an attempt to lighten Israel's responsibility towards ensuring a fair and just society for all.

Make no mistake, my piece does not once mention the lifting of Israel's accountability of its actions. Israel has no bearing on me or our nation, seeing as to how we vehemently abhor militancy or militant solidarity between peoples of a similar faith for want of national security.

The central gist of the piece was to highlight the lack of societal justice currently pervading our society. Perhaps people who have never been on the receiving end of such injustice should keep their advice on dealing with social injustice and on moving on in life.

As for the illustration of the Pied Piper, who did we blame for the rise of Nazism and Germanic militancy that ultimately sparked World War II? Hitler or Fraulein Hilda and her barmaids? Who do we punish for war crimes and atrocities? The generals or the soldiers? Who do we blame for the injustices of British colonial policies? James Birch or Sergeant Mohinder of the Second Indian rifles and his platoon? Simple logic, you blame the piper.

I also do not expect sympathy from anyone. Some common sense, more logic and understanding would be welcome. Keep the sympathy for those under ISA detention or Malaysians who have been deprived of oil revenue in Terengganu.

Even more confounding, the very notion that we should look at the future, not the past, is a theme that is cast in my piece. I called for the future generations of Malaysians to understand the meaning of social injustice and work towards eradicating it. How this has been missed by Muslim Student is beyond my comprehension.

Malaysians are calling for a greater equity amongst all Malaysians, and while I am not a supporter of instant meritocracy, I do believe that there are many amongst the majority who now see the need for the playing field to be a tad more level.

Perhaps it will mean the inability of some to sneak into prestigious educational institutions worldwide as the same funds are then used to provide the sons and daughters of fisher folk with more opportunities and assistance in their primary, secondary and tertiary education, but that is the price a true Malaysian will find more than fair.

On the roots of the term "the pot calling the kettle black", I wouldn't know since as far as I can remember, it was taught to me by a gentle Malay lady in her 40s. Does that make her racist? You might have used the popular Darkie brand of toothpaste before. Does that make you a racist?

Lastly, for the record and to clear any misconceptions, I, too, am sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and as far as I know, Islam as a religion is open to all races.