I have always enjoyed reading malaysiakini columnist Dean Johns' articles. This time, however, I have some comments on his article Mad about Malaysia . He wrote: 'I've shown a great deal less contempt for this country than the ex-menteri besar with two Muhammads in his name did for mine, by getting caught taking his cash on holiday there, then beating the resultant currency-smuggling rap by falsely swearing in court that he couldn't comprehend English'.
When the Australian customs caught Muhammad with all his cash, they did not know then that he was the chief minister of a Malaysian state. They had arrested someone who had clearly broken their law, and, unlike in Malaysia, in Australia the law applies equally to everyone irrespective of their station in life. In Australia, when someone is found guilty of breaking the law, the appropriate punishment has to be meted out.
But when they discovered that this currency smuggler was a chief minister of a Malaysian state, they faced a dilemma of diplomatic proportions. They really wanted to close one eye, Malaysian style, and release this 'menteri besar'. After all, the crime he had committed did no real harm to Australia. What he had smuggled into Australia was merely a large amount of cash. It wasn't as though he had smuggled kilos of illegal drugs into Australia. Neither was he caught attempting to smuggle young and underage white Aussie girls out of Australia.
Unfortunately, to simply release this smuggler would not have gone down well with the Australian public at all. The Australian foreign affairs authorities together with the top brass of the Australian customs then found the only solution to their dilemma. The 'menteri besar' had to be charged in court but he was instructed, via his legal counsel, to swear in court that he did not know even the most basic of English and therefore could not understand the customs declaration form which he had signed.
Of course, it was quite easy for the magistrate to believe that this man since he did not even know how to transfer money illegally out of Malaysia and into Australia the legal way. And of course, the prosecuting officer was also instructed not to bring up in court the fact that this 'menteri besar' was a graduate from the then Universiti of Malaya where English was at that time the medium of instruction.
After the now ex-'menteri besar' arrest was made public, the hottest coffee-shop topic in Malaysia was about whether he would be enjoying some free board and lodging in an Australian jail, or would he merely be convicted and fined without any jail term. The large majority of common Malaysians were, of course, hoping and wishing that he would be given some jail time because people like him were and are still above the law in Malaysia.
There were also a few in Umno with ambitions of becoming the next chief minister of Selangor and who were also praying that he will be convicted so that the chief minister's post will become vacant.
Unfortunately, for all of us in Malaysia, Dean Johns' fellow Australians in authority just refused to grant us our simple wish. Instead, they showed extreme contempt for us Malaysians by helping the ex-menteri besar escape what we Malaysians thought was a sure conviction.
