On the Beat | By Wong Chun Wai

Going down and under in politics

At one point, there was speculation that the Universiti
Malaya history graduate, with first-class honours, might make a political
comeback. That seems remote now. His image has been dented, made worse  by his bad English.

Another politician, Datuk
Musa  Aman, was placed on good behaviour
bond by the magistrate's court  for
breach of Australian currency  laws in
April. Musa, the Sabah Foundation director, is also Sabah Umno treasurer.

week, another Malaysian  politician got
into trouble. The  Member of Parliament
was threatened with a suit by a Perth casino 
over a gambling debt of A$2mil. The debt was incurred over a  five-day period in December 1994  and January 1995 while the politician was a
licensed junket operator.

The amount was small, of course,  going
by Malaysian standards at a  time when it
was thought the good  times would roll on

But from documents made available, it seems that the MP found  himself caught in this financial  predicament because his cash flow  has been seriously affected by the  economic downturn.

The press has been trying to  reach him,
even hounding his party  boss for
comments when they  failed to contact

Australian newspapers, usually  sparing a
single column in their  dailies for minor
Malaysian politicians, have gleefully played up 
such stories.

Barely 24 hours after the news  broke,
the casino said the MP had  agreed to
settle the debt, and that a 
“significant down payment'' had 
been made. The man has agreed to 
pay the balance in one lump sum 
within a stipulated time.

This case is a civil matter between the casino and the politician.

Being a non-Muslim, there's  nothing to
stop him from throwing  a wager, big or
small. The casino's  debt collector,
impressively calling  itself the Asean
Protection Services, has cleverly used the press  to recover the money.

There is no criminal element involved here. But there is, of course,  the question of morality and

And politicians are the most susceptible, being the loudest preacher of the two

For the press, there's certainly a 
story  what more a member of  parliament and a senior leader of a  party, too.

And like all political scandals,  minor
or otherwise, there's always  a yarn and
a joke these days.

There is this one about how a  jury
reached a verdict in a trial involving a politician who contravened currency

As the jury deliberated over the  case,
an elderly woman asked:  “What's the
case really about? After a week's hearing, I am still lost  and confused.''

A young man offered his assistance, saying it was a simple case  about a “big shot'' who brought into  Australia a lot of money but just  didn't tell the authorities.

The woman, whose families were  among the
early British settlers to  Australia,
replied: “Is that all? Why  are we
wasting our time, we should  just free
him, ain't we all convicts  before,

Then there is the one about another politician who was travelling  in a group to Canberra from Kuala  Lumpur.

He was given a disembarkation  form to
fill when the flight took off.  The
politician, known for his poor  grasp of
English, started filling the  form when
the plane touched down  in the Australian

He struggled with the details,  and his
colleagues who were leaving the plane asked in great annoyance why he had not
filled the form  earlier.

“But the form says clearly fill in 
capital,'' the exasperated politician 

Bad English got the same politician all tangled up another time. He  wanted to place a call to Australia  but didn't know the time difference.

So he dialled 108 for the international operator. The busy operator  told him: “Just a minute, sir.''

The politician then directed the 
operator: “In that case, I will call 
Australia now.''

All the reported inconveniences  which
our Malaysian politicians  have to put up
with are unlikely to  deter them from
visiting the place.

By the admission of one politician, Australia is a great place. The  weather is nice, the people are  easy-going and it's certainly a good  place to invest.

Still, they ought to realise that it  is
not the politically-correct thing  to do
at this time.

Malaysians, who have been told  to do
everything local, are unlikely  to be
forgiving nor amused when  they read
about high-flying politicians getting into all kinds of trouble.

The word now, of course, is when 
politicians travel Down Under, 
there is the fear of going down and 
under politically after that.