This is a bit of a long shot but I am wondering if it is possible to enable syntax highlighting in a function defined with \[Function] without resorting to anything too heavy duty.
For example I would like the a in the second line to be colored as it is in the first:

This is apparently enabled out of the box in versions 8 and 9.

SyntaxInformation. I assume you've tried your usual tricks... $\endgroup$