Tourists prefer to talk about the opportunity to
experience marvellous scenery, the rich cultural history and traditions, than
to point out a few Chinese idiosyncrasies.

Spitting is so prevalent that it happens just about everywhere – in restaurants
as you are eating, in buses or on the sidewalks, from the person standing next
to you and at just about all tourist spots.

But with the SARS outbreak, the Chinese authorities have the opportunity to
educate the people that it is unhealthy and unacceptable behaviour to spit in
public places.

To be fair, the Chinese Government has tried to curtail this nasty habit – even
before SARS became part our daily vocabulary – by imposing fines but it has
never been taken seriously because it is near impossible to enforce.

Heavy smoking among the mainlanders has also contributed to widespread
spitting. According to estimates, the average Chinese smoker puffs away more
than a pack of 20 sticks a day, with more and more of their countrymen lighting
up.

Smoking may be socially unacceptable now in many Asian countries, including
Malaysia and Singapore, but in China smokers do not bother to ask their guests
for permission to light up in restaurants.

During a recent trip to Kunming in Yunnan, southern China, my 20-something
tourist guide was surprised when I voiced my unhappiness over smoking in
restaurants.

In China, this young man said, smoking was considered a ''macho'' thing
although the people knew the health dangers. Men were encouraged to smoke to
prove their manliness, he added.

It is impossible to stay in a hotel room that is free from cigarette smell. Unless
you are booked into a five-star hotel with non-smoking floors, you would have
to put up with the smell of stale cigarette smoke during your package tour
(where the accommodation is usually three-star.)

According to a study published in the British Medical Journal in 2001,
two-thirds of all young men in China's population of 1.27 billion people end up
as smokers. They use up 30% per cent of the world's cigarettes and the Chinese
Government is the largest producer of cigarettes in the world.

Public toilets are a nightmare in most parts of China. They make spitting and
smoking tolerable as little attention seems to be paid to keeping public
toilets clean.

Having travelled to almost 20 cities in China, I still find it a culture shock
when I have to look for toilets; these are sometimes just holes in the ground
or ditches. In many cases, toilets have very low wooden partitions; some do not
even have doors.

As a man, I have the advantage over women in many ways whenever I travel along
Chinese highways. I don't have to deliberate on this but my wife says the
''open air system'' is sometimes the best!

Despite having a weak stomach, I managed to control myself extremely well
during an overnight train ride along the Silk Road and once to Harbin, one of
the coldest parts of China.

It is good that the Chinese authorities are fully aware of these shortcomings.
In many major cities, the authorities have started to impose heavier fines on
its people for spitting.

In a similar development, the Beijing authorities recently decided to increase
the fine against chewing gum droppers at Tiananmen Square from 20 to 50 yuan
(US$2.40 to US$6) because nearly 1,000 people have been working to remove
600,000 wads of chewing gum carelessly discarded by residents and visitors.

The clean-up reportedly cost the Beijing authorities over a million yuan
(US$120,000).

Beijing has also initiated a programme to clean up hundreds of public toilets
and to equip them with modern facilities as the Chinese capital gears itself up
for the 2008 Olympics.

Aware of the huge income derived from tourism, the toilets at some tourist
spots are reserved for visitors.

That aside, China has to educate its people – in a revolutionary way – on the
need for personal hygiene.

One classic case is Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee
Hwa, who has come under fire from the demanding islanders for his handling of
the SARS issue, although there is very little he can do.

The best brains in Hong Kong's health services are working overtime and under
intense pressure to find a cure and they should be commended for tracking down
the virus in record time.

The finger pointing is really unnecessary because it does not help to solve the
SARS problem. It does not make sense to blame health officials for the outbreak
but they should be penalised if they attempt to keep the situation under
wraps.

China's Health Minister Zhang Wenkang and Beijing Major Meng Xuenong were
sacked from the Communist Party by the leadership to show it was serious in its
handling of the SARS problem.

Zhang has been former President Jiang Zemin's personal doctor since the late
1980s when the latter was still Mayor of Shanghai. His mistake, like many other
politicians, was to lie to the public.

The sacking of the two and China's admittance that it had not been transparent
are unusual and such loss of face is tremendously hard to swallow for the
Chinese leadership.

But the lesson from this episode, for the Chinese leaders as well as other
Asian leaders, is the habit of resorting to secrecy as a first step in crisis
management is no longer applicable today.

Those responsible for internal security should realise that bad news today
would not lead to social unrest and panic. That may have been the case of
street-style politics during the 60s.

But times have changed. Such secrecy can no longer work in the Internet age.
While the state can attempt to stop the media from highlighting the SARS issue,
it will not be able to stop reports over the Internet.

In fact, when rumours broke out via SMS that a fashion outlet at a shopping
complex in Petaling Jaya had shut down because its workers were inflicted with
SARS, it was the print media that took the task of informing the public that it
was not true.

It was the print media, lambasted by some quarters for supposedly
sensationalising the SARS issue, that took the trouble to send reporters to the
shopping complex to determine the true situation. Not the electronic or online
media.

Then there are those in the tourism industry. There can be no doubt that people
will now travel only when absolutely necessary. No responsible employers would
ask their workers to travel unnecessarily and most overseas holidays would be
postponed.

It is irresponsible for any tourism official or politician in charge of tourism
to suggest that the press should not highlight the SARS issue. Turning a blind
eye, for the sake of political and economic expediency, is not the way.

The role of the media is to inform and educate the public and, in the case of
SARS, the Malaysian press has generally played a meaningful role. Politicians
should learn to accept criticisms, not just praises.

Last week, New Straits Times editor-in-chief Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad correctly
pointed out ''it will be folly for the Health Ministry to follow China's
example. There were sloppy attempts early on to manage information, but the
media's careful uncovering of the incidence of the disease has done more to
assuage public concern.''

He wrote in his column On The Record on April 23 that every precaution must be
taken, with enough visibility to show that the Government was both earnest and
effective in dealing with the potential scourge.

''The irony of disinformation is that there can be a severe backlash if that is
what it is shown to be – a sophisticated attempt to bluff your way out of
trouble. Open and rapidly communicative economies such as Singapore and Hong
Kong don't even bother to quell the fear factor, and err on the side of
over-reaction.

''On the other hand, Malaysia tends to err on the side of under-reaction. In
previous disease outbreaks, such as the coxsackie and viral encephalitis,
information curtailment can be argued to have worked to stem panic – the
pathogens did not spread too far and wide. But SARS is different.''

In Malaysia, I still believe the health officials have handled the flow of
information reasonably well, despite the initial hiccups, but the reprimand to
the Chinese dailies seems unnecessary.

The criticism and counter arguments between the Chinese dailies and the Health
Ministry are unhealthy. Both sides should get on with the real work of fighting
the health menace.

Shortly after the Bup Kudus, as the Iban-language Bible
is called, was banned by the ministry, quiet overtures were made to
Abdullah.

I believe that Abdullah, who is also Home Minister, will give a fair hearing to
the appeals by the church groups.

He has said he is prepared to meet the Council of Churches to discuss the ban,
saying it will be lifted if the ministry is satisfied with arguments put
forward by the Iban community.

On Friday, Abdullah said the matter was brought up at the Cabinet meeting and
the ministers were briefed by Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak president Datuk Leo
Moggie, who is the Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister. The council
should now let the process of appeal take its course.

Abdullah has pointed out that the translation of some of the words and phrases
in the book had created confusion.

Citing that God had been translated as Allah Ta'ala, Abdullah said he was
surprised to know this ''but if that's the meaning, we cannot object and
(cannot) ask them to change.''

To avoid confusion, Abdullah suggested that translations of the Bible should
clearly state that they were meant for that particular community. He said this
would ensure that Muslims understood the book was meant for Iban-speaking
Christians.

On why the ban was imposed when Bup Kudus had been used for more than 15 years,
Abdullah said doubts over the translation had been raised.

''Many things can happen in 15 years. Suddenly people find 'errors' in the
book,'' he added.

The council should adopt an open mind to the suggestions made by Abdullah.
There should not be any problem stating on copies of the Bible that these are
meant for Christians.

As the book is merely a translation, there is also nothing wrong to state that
these are translations. After all, English Bibles are also translations and
depending on which version you own, the words used do differ.

The original Bible is in Hebrew, not English or Iban, and the churches should
be prepared to be flexible.

Once these adjustments are made, there should be no reason why the ban on the
Iban-language Bible should not be lifted.

If those phrases in question have been used for 15 years without any confusion,
then the council also has a right to point this out. They should argue along
the lines of who has been confused or confusing the whole situation, which
should never have arisen in the first place.

The Government must understand that eventually more and more Christian books
will be written in Bahasa Malaysia because the young are more comfortable with
the language as a result of the national education policy. The use of the
national language in churches, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, is only
natural.

As Deputy Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin said, no one should be
paranoid when a sermon is delivered in Bahasa Malaysia.

During our chat on Saturday morning, he said the Malay language no longer
belonged to the Malays but to all Malaysians. Similarly, there is an
Indonesian-language Bible.

Zainuddin said Abdullah hoped everyone concerned could discuss the
matter.

Likewise, there should be no obstruction to applications to set up churches in
predominantly non-Muslim areas because their purpose is to fulfil the spiritual
needs of Christians, nothing more.

The Federal Constitution clearly guarantees the freedom of religious practices
among Malaysians.

The reasoning of moderate leaders like Pak Lah and Zam are reassuring. I am
sure their views will provide Christians with some comfort as we celebrate the
holy day of Easter, when Jesus Christ arose three days after being crucified on
the cross.

Malaysians should always be vigilant against extremists, irrespective of their
religion and race. At the same time, we should place our trust in the
Government's leadership of consensus and accommodation.

Shutting down information and pretending SARS doesn't
exist has not only caused many lives to be lost but has put millions of
mainland Chinese at risk.

The impact is being felt three months later as more countries are being hit by
SARS as a result of international travel. Even countries in Europe and South
America have reported suspected cases.

But as both nations deal with SARS, another fight is taking place at the
diplomatic level. China is trying to salvage its image, with Health Minister
Zhang Wenkang appearing regularly on television to talk about the precautions
and successes in curbing the virus.

Newly appointed Premier Wen Jiabao has also spoken about a ''national emergency
mechanism'' to fight the killer virus, as well as taking a more honest approach
toward the public.

Taiwan – in the classic case of seeing an opportunity in a crisis – has
launched a campaign to seek international support to gain observer's status in
the World Health Organisation.

It has complained that it sought help from WHO to diagnose and treat three
suspected SARS cases but was refused, evidently because of objections from
China. When Taiwan withdrew from the United Nations in 1971, it also lost its
WHO membership that is part of the UN administration.

It has tried every year to gain observer's status, but is blocked by China and
the majority of members of the World Health Assembly because of the ''one-China
policy.''

Besides losing out on benefits enjoyed by members, Taiwan claims it cannot
effectively share its health-related experiences and resources with the
international community.

With plenty of money at its disposal, Taiwan has pointed out that from 1995 to
2002, it donated over US$120mil in relief to the international community in 78
countries spanning five continents.

Taiwan, understandably, has cried foul, saying China's stand was a form of
''health apartheid'' as politics should not be a factor in health treatment,
particularly when human lives are involved.

Politics aside, the reality is that as the pace of globalisation quickens and
the spread of infectious disease becomes critical, the world must re-look the
way it handles health cases.

In over three months, a disease has spread speedily and infected people around
the world. The SARS disease will not just hit humans but also affect the
economy of many countries, particularly those who depend on tourism.

Political barriers should not be used to fight health threats. What is required
is the collective effort of all countries, regardless of their political
allegiance. The sharing of information has become more urgent.

The dissemination of relevant data, technology and other resources to monitor,
prevent and respond to SARS is of great urgency now as travelling becomes
easier. Countries must always be a step ahead and political motivations should
not be allowed to get in the way of fighting the epidemic.

The SARS issue should also be a lesson to those in government – when vital
information about a deadly disease is kept away from the public, it will soon
become a bigger problem for the government.

The value of a responsive and accountable government must be valued and Acting
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi must be commended for insisting
that the Cabinet would be open.

The world has yet to see Iraqis holding little American
flags and welcoming their ''liberators.'' Instead, the US-led troops have found
a more hostile reception. In the meantime, more coalition troops have been
killed by ''friendly fire'' than by Iraqis in the desert.

Bush, who has been expecting an uprising against Saddam, has found strong
resistance from Iraqis while the sandstorms have slowed down the march into
Baghdad. It has frustrated the Americans but there should be no doubt that the
US will eventually win the war.

No one should kid themselves into assuming that the Iraqis will be able to
defeat the Americans when they enter Baghdad. It's a one-sided war but the
coalition is finding the human cost much higher than expected.

Blatantly using the American media to justify the invasion, CNN, CNBC and Fox
TV are giving ordinary Americans the impression that everything has gone according
to plan despite the little hitches.

The American people have been given a different picture through the so-called
embedded reporters, who are informing the world how the attack is being waged
through the eyes of coalition troops.

Malaysians are luckier than Americans, in a sense. Through Astro, we are able
to follow the developments in Iraq through various options such as CNN, CNBC,
Al-Jazeera, BBC and occasionally the German station.

Last week, Malaysians even got to see how Beijing-based CCTV covered the war
through Chinese reporters.

So far, there has been little objectivity in the coverage by the major media.
The American TV stations repeat that the attack is to liberate the Iraqi people
– it is not an invasion or an attack.

These terms would never be used by the embedded reporters. The joke is because
these reporters are already ''in bed'' with the American forces.

CNBC has even used the the official codename Operation Iraqi Freedom as its
tagline. We are seeing more soldiers moving into Iraq rather than coverage of
injured Iraqi citizens.

The Qatar-based al-Jazeera is no better. It may have given the world the Arab
voice, particularly from Iraq, but it has been emotional in its coverage.

It reaches over 35 million Arabs, including 150,000 in the US. The station,
which has broadcast tapes from Osama bin Laden, has long incurred the wrath of
the White House.

By showing footage of captured American prisoners, the station was kicked out
of the New York Stock Exchange. Crying foul and citing the Geneva Convention,
the US was suddenly talking about international law.

Never mind the fact that it snubbed the United Nations and international laws.
Worse, White House officials have forgotten that the American stations were the
ones who had showed video footage of captured Iraqi soldiers first.

In comparison, the European media has been more sceptical in its coverage of
the war. The European reporters have provided a better perspective, asking
different questions at press conferences about the invasion.

While the US media is concerned over whether how many Iraqi cities have been
captured or whether Saddam is alive or dead, the Europeans have persistently
asked whether the US managed to turn up any weapons of mass destruction.

One reason for the difference in reportage could be because Europe, except for
Britain, is not involved in the invasion. Unlike the US, most European cities
have a high number of Muslims.

For example, Marseille, France, has a 30% Muslim population. It is similar in
German cities.

The call to boycott American products is unlikely to be effective. In fact, it
can even be self-defeating. As developing countries, these markets are hardly
significant to the US.

But should the Americans retaliate against these small countries, it would be
disastrous to these producers of commodities. All the US needs to do is to
impose difficult conditions or to increase tariffs.

Politicians who called for the boycott of American goods probably have little
understanding of global trade. They won't be doing the farmers and planters at
their constituencies a favour. That aside, fund managers feel jittery over any
harsh anti-American rhetoric.

Still, the world must speak up against a war that is clearly unjust and
unwarranted. With so many lives already lost, it is difficult not to be
emotional.

According to some of those arrested, they were
handcuffed, manhandled and some of their visas defaced by police and
immigration personnel. The alleged shoddy treatment of these Indian workers has
been given prominent, if not emotional, treatment by the Indian press.

There have even been calls to take a range of retaliatory measures against
Malaysia in protest against the alleged ill-treatment of the 270 Indian
nationals.

According to the Indian media reports, the Indian Government was reviewing a
bilateral civil aviation treaty signed some years ago and cleared by the
Federal Cabinet this January.

The spat between India and Malaysia could also affect tariff concessions on
Malaysian palm oil exports, of which India is a major importer.

The Indian media have good reason to be upset but they should not go overboard,
let alone instigate and make matters worse.

It will be inaccurate to suggest that there is a row between Malaysia and
India.

What has happened is an unfortunate incident involving the arrest of Indian
nationals by the police and immigration who may have over-reacted. The Indian
nationals have had their say, which was reported by the Malaysian media.

The Home and Foreign ministries have correctly started investigating the matter
by getting the officers involved to answer these allegations. If they had acted
unfairly, then punishment must be meted against the culprits.

There can be no excuse for over-zealous officers carrying out their duties
beyond their powers, not just against Indian nationals but everyone, including
Malaysians.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar was correct in saying that
Malaysia viewed the complaints seriously and would inform the Indian Government
of its findings.

However, Veena Sikri said Syed Hamid's remarks ''did not provide answers'' and
that she was not happy with the police for not allowing her consular officers
access to the detained workers.

In all fairness to Syed Hamid, he needs all the facts on his table before he
can make any comments on the allegations. For that, a full investigation must
first be carried out to ascertain the truth.

Entrepreneur Minister Datuk Nazri Abdul Aziz reportedly had an earful from two
Indian ministers when he flew into New Delhi last Tuesday. He told the Indian
reporters that there was no deliberate policy against Indian nationals and
promised that action would be taken against those responsible.

The raid at the Brickfields condominium is said to have followed complaints
from the public over allegations of foreigners with forged travel documents in
the area. But, according to reports, these were not ordinary manual workers but
professionals with technical expertise.

Whether these foreigners are professionals or ordinary labourers, they are
guests of Malaysia and deserve to be treated properly.

The matter has been given attention by Acting Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, so India can rest assured that the episode would not be
swept under the carpet.

The police have received plenty of bad press over the arrest of the Indian
nationals and they must now quickly complete their investigations and publicise
their findings.

To prevent his raids from being made known, especially
information being leaked out, he makes it a point to only call the officers
from the various agencies after personally checking the premises.

At the health centre, he found women from Russia, China, Thailand and Indonesia
whom he suspects offer sex service besides massage. Among the three locals was
a young Malay woman.

Some of the women began making telephone calls. The enforcement officers
confiscated their cell phones, saying they would only be returned to them at
the district police headquarters where they will be detained.

Another health centre in the area was simultaneously raided. The officers there
informed the Mentri Besar that there were more customers at this place.

As the raids ended, reporters from two television stations approached Dr Khir
for comments. He appeared hesitant, saying they should approach the council and
police instead.

It has certainly not been easy for the young politician. His actions have been
dismissed by some people as a publicity stunt. They say the world's oldest
profession cannot be eradicated as long as there is demand for it.

They add that Dr Khir had made his point and the job should now be left to
those entrusted with it.

They also say it is not the Mentri Besar's job to act against brothel owners
and that there are other more pressing matters which he could channel his
energies to.

But women groups, especially Wanita MCA and religious groups, have expressed
support for his actions, saying the Mentri Besar wants to make a strong
statement that he could not tolerate the wanton sex trade in the state.

Many Selangor residents, too, have defended his actions, which shows that the
MB feels the pulse of the grassroots.

In a recent interview, Dr Khir said the complaints came mostly from Chinese
housewives who lament that their husbands had used the household budget, meant
for paying bills and their children's tuition fees, for sex with prostitutes.
They had found hotel receipts in their husband's pockets and lipstick stains on
their shirts. The women felt betrayed by the actions of their husbands.

If drug abuse involves mostly Malays, Dr Khir said the majority of the clients
at health centres were Chinese – at a raid in Damansara, 98% of the customers
were Chinese, and at another Ampang raid, all were Chinese.

Poison-pen letters have been sent to the MB's office and the media containing
allegations of the involvement of politicians in the lucrative vice
business.

It remains to be seen how effective these raids will be. Pessimists say these
brothels will resume operations soon, drawing a parallel to the large number of
stalls selling pirated VCDs despite the high-profile anti-piracy
campaign.

By his own admission, Dr Khir said it would be difficult to fight prostitution because
it involved powerful syndicates and most of the sex workers were willingly
doing it for big money.

The law, it has also been pointed out, merely states that it is an offence to
solicit for sex but in health centres, what takes place inside the room between
the masseur and the customer would be difficult for anyone to prove
otherwise.

The only action that could be taken against any foreign women caught at health
centres is under the immigration laws – for violation of their visit
passes.

The odds are stacked against Dr Khir and, realistically, it is almost an
impossible crusade.

As a follow-up, the Mentri Besar could perhaps launch a campaign on family
values, roping in the various non-government organisations and religious groups
of all faiths.

The state government could carry out a health awareness campaign at high-risk
neighbourhoods with the cooperation of residents associations. In the long
term, such campaigns would be more effective, realistic and sustainable.

The US has now said it wants to set up a free and
democratic government after toppling Saddam. Take away the diplomatic and
political double-talk used by Bush, it simply means that the US wants to set up
a puppet government that will kowtow to the White House.

It's no longer a quick attack by the US as ordinary Americans wake up to the
fact that Bush is talking of US occupation, which may take years, while the US
finds a leader to fill the presidency. The post-Saddam scenario in Iraq is
likely to be chaotic.

For Bush, it has gone beyond merely destroying the weapons of mass destruction.
The evidence now shows that all the Iraqis have are two missiles that, Saddam
claims, have short-term capabilities only.

With Iraq having the largest supply of oil after Saudi Arabia, the temptation
to colonise Iraq is just too difficult to resist for the White House.

Blair, on the other hand, has been articulate and has done well in persuading
his listeners to support the call for war. He has said he has access to certain
convincing information on the need to attack Iraq.

While he talked about allowing the matter to be discussed further in
Parliament, the hard fact is that the decision to go to war won't be decided in
London. It's being made at the White House.

The spin about the coming Gulf war is not just being done out by Americans.
Hard-line Muslim groups are doing the same. One popular line is that it is a
war between the US and Muslims, much less a clash of civilisations.

Islamic radicals, including Osama bin Laden, are likely to benefit from such
talk because the invasion would outrage Muslims and the ranks of these radicals
can be expected to grow.

Muslim solidarity is poor in the Gulf where many Muslim countries in the
Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), such as Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia, are allowing the US to use their countries as a base to launch
the attacks against Iraq. Turkey is the latest to join in.

Kuwait, which was invaded by Iraq in the first Gulf War, certainly wants to see
Saddam ousted, while Egypt receives US$2bil in aid each year and Jordan gets
US$1bil.

Some of these monarchies, which have poor human rights and democratic records,
are backing the US to avoid being targets themselves. They are not open and
free nations as Bush would want us to believe.

Many of these countries were uncomfortable with the criticism of the US at the
recent Non-Aligned Movement summit in Kuala Lumpur and had indicated their
reservations.

But Saddam should not be perceived as the underdog. He does not respect his
fellow Muslims and had tried to invade Kuwait.

His leadership record is poor but there is fear that he may be encouraged by
the global anti-war protests from peace movements.

Peace movements, especially those in Malaysia, must ensure that their aim is
clear: we do not want a war. We are not supporting either Bush or Saddam.

The calls for peace have come from all groups; even the Pope has joined the
chorus for global peace.

It is significant that the Malaysian Council of Churches is organising a peace
gathering and calling for donations for the Palestinians.

If the anti-war protests against the US involvement in Vietnam during the 60s
comprise mainly the young, this time we see the middle class and middle-aged
adding to the outcry.

Also on sale are special dishes to mark the last day of
the Lunar New Year celebrations: lontong (rice steamed in banana leaf), opor
ayam (chicken cooked with coconut cream and spices) and lodeh (vegetables with
coconut milk).

The beginning of the Year of the Goat has been good for Indonesian Chinese –
for the first time, the festival has been declared a national holiday.

To celebrate Imlek, as the festival is called, shops in Glodok, Mangga Dua, Mal
Kelapa Gading, Taman Anggrek and Plaza Senayan are decorated with Chinese
banners.

It's a far cry from 30 years ago when Indonesian Chinese had to celebrate
behind closed doors.

When President Abdurrahman Wahid came to power in 1999, he repealed several laws
aimed against the Chinese minority.

He allowed Chinese New Year to be openly celebrated for the first time, making
it an optional holiday for Chinese workers.

Chinese characters began to adorn signs in Indonesian cities and Chinese
newspapers resumed publication. It was a major reform because the Suharto
government had been so obsessed with the threat of communism that any
expression of Chinese culture was banned.

Gus Dur, as Abdurrahman is popularly called, invited the Chinese to use their
traditional names decades after they had been regulated into adopting
Indonesian-sounding names.

Suharto, who resigned in 1998, had forced hundreds of thousands of Chinese
families to take indigenous names in a campaign of assimilation.

It was also a racist campaign because until today, the Chinese are required to
carry a document stating their ethnic origin. The government has claimed that
it was aimed at distinguishing the local-born from the mainland Chinese.

After Suharto's New Order regime fell and the economy lay in shambles, Jakarta
exploded into madness.

The riots were worst in Glodok; thousands of Chinese were killed, shops looted
and women raped in one of the country's worst tragedies. Many families fled to
nearby Malaysia and Singapore.

Today, the ruins of burnt buildings are still in plain sight. With Indonesia
struggling to rebuild its economy, many ordinary Chinese businessmen find it
difficult to revive their enterprises.

Amid the sign of the times, Amien Rais, the Speaker of the People's Consultative
Assembly, dressed up in Chinese costume – minus the long beard of the God of
Prosperity – to deliver a speech at a shopping complex calling for an end to
discrimination against the Chinese.

The politician, who aspires to be the next Indonesian President, was once
accused by the Chinese of being a racist although his supporters claimed he was
a moderate.

No stranger to controversy, he was criticised by Malaysians when he expressed
support for the reformasi campaign in Malaysia.

In his speech, Amien likened the Indonesian people to lontong cap goh meh, a
little bit of this and that to signify the country's diversity.

At the nearby record shops, the songs of Rani, a 27-year-old Jakarta singer,
blared from the speakers.

But Rani is no ordinary singer. The daughter of a diplomat who grew up in
Beijing, she sings in Mandarin although she doesn't have a drop of Chinese
blood.

For many Indonesian Chinese, that's certainly music to their ears and with the
presidential elections due next year, the politicians are making sure their
speeches and promises would be heard too.

The sad part is the Government gets the blame from
Muslims and non-Muslims who assume that these are government orders.

When state-level Education Department directors and officers refuse to
interfere – because they themselves are sympathetic or unsure of the policy and
religious sensitivities involved – the school principal gets away with
it.

We have also read reports of non-Muslim university students facing difficulties
in organising cultural activities because of bureaucratic hindrance from
mid-level administrators.

Malay university students, on the other hand, have complained of PAS-influenced
student leaders stopping them from holding Malay cultural dances involving men
and women.

Recently, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak correctly cautioned
that growing intolerance by some Muslims towards non-Muslims and an Islamic
religious school system that preached hatred were threatening the Malaysian way
of life.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has spoken about the importance
of ending racial polarisation in our education system, from pre-school to
university level.

The reality is disturbing, as Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad revealed. Chinese
parents are sending their children to Chinese schools because they find national
schools too religious while Malays are sending their children to privately-run
religious schools because they find government schools too secular.

The end result is that young Malaysians are not mixing enough. Forget about
forging real relationships. There will be functional relations at work places
and businesses but they will only be superficial ties.

In the long run, Malaysians will come to view their rights and privileges from
a narrow racial and religious perspective.

Fellow columnist Shamsul Akmar of New Straits Times wrote recently how a pupil
came home crying because she had to lie in her religious class. Apparently, the
ustazah wanted to know from the class whether any of their mothers did not wear
the tudung. The poor girl was the only one in the class whose mother did not
cover her head.

Another counterpart, Zainon Ahmad of The Sun, wrote on a similar issue,
pointing out that some Muslim girls were not allowed to wear shorts during
physical exercise and sports activity. Peer pressure and other pressures, he
wrote, had caused most Muslim girls to wear the hijab.

He also pointed out that Bahasa Malaysia was renamed Bahasa Melayu after Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim became the Education Minister. That, of course, robbed the
Malay language of its unification role – making it seem like a language of one
community rather than the pride of all Malaysians regardless of race.

During my student days at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), I was ticked
off by a hostel warden when I walked into the hostel canteen in shorts on my
first day in campus.

I did not know I had committed an offence. The other students, including the
Muslims, did not complain but the warden was unhappy and openly expressed his
unhappiness.

That was not all. The Chinese students wanted a separate section in the
canteen, saying it was inconvenient for them to travel to Kajang from the UKM
campus in Bangi for ''economy rice.''

Despite the support of the Muslim canteen operator, who saw the business
prospect, some administrators objected. It was only after much appeal that the
students succeeded – thanks to Vice-Chancellor Datuk Dr Yusuf Nor.

Dr Yusuf, who went on to become a Cabinet Minister, had moderate views and
sympathised with the minority Chinese students.

The students, members of the Chinese Consultative Committee that organised the
canteen, later ran into trouble. The committee, of which I was a leader, was
banned by Anwar because it was an unregistered communal-based group.

The other committee leaders were the present MCA Youth secretaries-general: Loh
Seng Kok, political secretary to Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik, and Liow Tiong
Lai, the MP for Bentong.

I understand a similar group like the CCC is now functioning in UKM with the
blessing of the university authorities.

All these cases did not involve government policy, merely restrictions imposed
at implementation level by racist officials. Moderate Malaysians should not be
afraid to speak up against any form of extremism, whether racial or
religious.

Let's not allow extremists, whether Malays, Chinese or Indians, to hijack our
education system – the moderate Malaysian way of life must be allowed to
flourish.