When in Malaysia, Don't Clap at the Wrong Time I had the same interpretation of things and wanted to write likewise to our dear readers when I got this from Bloomberg. Imagine the thoughts of a foreigner these days :

1. If I come to Malaysia I'm subject to currency controls.
2. If I somehow cross paths with the government or persons with links to the government, even if I'm right, I will have no recourse to justice. Look at their courts, the police, the judges ...
3. I can be easily picked up by the police under ISA and forced to confess so wrong doing that I have no knowledge of or else ...

No wonder foreign businessmen are staying away ...

Here is a little story of terror that provides a picture, albeit in distilled form, of public life in Malaysia these days. It seems that Noordin Sopiee, chairman of a Malaysian think- tank called the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, was in attendance at the ``Gala'' dinner for the APEC delegates when U.S. Vice President Al Gore gave his freedom speech. Gore directly gave support to Prime Minister Mahathir's political foes when he declared ``We continue to hearcalls for democracy, calls for `reformasi.' We hear them today -- right here,right now -- among the brave people of Malaysia.''

Noordin, one of the organizers of the dinner, made his big mistake when Gore finished speaking, as Noordin himself described in a letter to the Malaysian New Straits Times of Nov. 21. ``I sat through the entire proceedings and I must confess that I was stung by his final comments. When Gore finished, I started to clap and it took me a full five seconds before I stopped,'' he said.

Oh boy! That was really a blunder. In all probability, poor Noordin was the only Malaysian to have clapped. And then he knew he was in big trouble. So what did he do? He offered a public explanation for his outrageous behavior: "I suppose a lifetime of training and conditioning got in the way of what I should have done."

In other words, Noordin was saying that he was so well brought up that he clapped on automatic pilot. If anyone is to blame it is his mommy. But wait a minute. Was Noordin saying that his manners were better than those of Mahathir, who presumably did not clap for Gore?

No problem, Noordin covered that base as well: "I felt so sorry for our Prime Minister who sat through the whole thing from beginning to end, smiling as well-bred Malaysians are taught to do on such occasions."

Mea Culpa

Actually, Noordin's letter to the New Straits Times is only a follow up. Who knows the agony that this poor man must have endured? "I was so upset that the first thing the next day, I called up the New Straits Times and asked them whether I could take a one-page advertisement to express my views. I asked them how much it would cost. The paper came back two hours later to say that a page could indeed be found and that the lowest, absolutely lowest cost (special to me because I had once worked with the newspaper) would be RM 14,500. I took a deep breath. And proceeded to write the text."

The actual text of the Noordin ad is not anything special. It is just a lot of condemnation of Gore and sycophantic praise for Mahathir.

Maxima Culpa?

What makes the whole episode exceptional is that a private citizen of Malaysia was so intimidated that he felt the need to make a pathetic public apology for what anywhere else would have been a soon-forgotten, minor incident.

Is this what life has come to in Malaysia?

Maybe the clapping incident is just a fluke or maybe Noordin is a little off balance. But Mahathir's own statements and actions argue otherwise. Moreover, take a look at the New Straits Times (dated 2 Dec 98) which heralded the following chilling header "Reformasi Supporters Identified."

Reformasi is actually the name of the Indonesian reform movement. Gore used the term in his speech to stand for a generic people's movement for ending dictatorship. The text from THE New Straits Times relates an announcement made a day earlier to the State Assembly by Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim. He told the delegates that the government has identified a handful of government officers who were sympathetic to the opposition parties and to the reformasi movement. The accused hold positions in the Education Department, AgricultureDepartment, Farmers Organisation Authority and Community Development Department.

Shahidan went on to give some professional advice to the accused "I strongly recommend that they resign from their respective posts and refrain from seeking employment from any government department or agency."

How nice -- a purge. Anyone knows where to get advance tickets if Mahathir decides to hold show trials?