What caused the present spat is an unexpected Malaysian demand that Singapore ought to pay far more than the contractual price for water it acquired from Malaysia. The Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, said since Hong Kong is paying China RM9 per 1,000 gallons, he implied that Singapore ought to as well. He was making a point to firm his local Malay base, preparing the ground for general elections probably as early as next year.

Political power in the BN is personal to holder, who clings to it to the exclusion of power for the community they represent. So, what UMNO wants, the BN parties go along. The ease with which civil servants can persuade the non-Malay party members in state assemblies and local councils to act against their community is a sign more serious than is admitted. They ignore time-honoured government rules which forbid, for instance, the wanton changing of road names with a history behind it. So, Jalan Koo CHong Kong in Ipoh is renamed, for no rhyme or reason, Jalan Tabung Haji; Batu Caves in Selangor Selayang. The Kuala Lumpur City Council arbitrarily raises the licence fees for dogs five times to RM50, and the number of dogs one can keep depends on where you stay. (But for two years, the dogs wear no dog tags: they were ordered too late and arrived well after the licences had been issued. But that is another story.)

With few passengers and fewer flights, those who suffer are the retailers at the airport. Rents are quite cheap by international standards: between RM360,000 and RM12 million a year or RM30,000 and RM1 million a month. Retailers in New York, Zurich, Heathrow, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore would jump at the offer if KLIA were in those airports. Since the works minister, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, insists that road tolls are affordable because they are cheaper than in Ougadougou, this same yardstick must be used to compare rents. These fellows refuse to accept a ringgit in Malaysia has about the same purchasing value as a pound sterling in London or a US dollar in New York. And cannot understand why Malaysians baulk at paying US$5 (in ringgit) for a plate of mee siam because it would be cheaper in New York.

The heyday of both magazines were before the American takeover. Asiaweek was founded by five former Far Eastern Economic Review editors, correspondents, and the accountant -- TJS George; Michael O'Neill, who died in Manila in the late 1990s; Graham Wilde; Cheng Huan (now a QC in Hong Kong); and this writer.

The Mayor of Ipoh, Dato' Talaat Hussein, is caught with his pants down when he ordered Jalan Koo CHong Kong, named after a Perak CPO shot dead by the communists, to be renamed Jalan Tabung Haji. We have come to expect these changes for no rhyme or reason except it is distinctly Malay or Islamic. It is in line with an official but unmentioned and stealthy policy of Islamisation and Malayisation of Malaysia that goes on before our very eyes. When the Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, insists, without amending the constitution or debating it in Parliament, Malaysia is an Islamic nation, and every member of the governing National Front agree and not allow any discussion, he impliedly justifies such idiocy as renaming roads to ensure Malaysia eventually is a Malay country in which non-Malays must live in sufferance.

Hong Kong immigration hauls up any with a "bin" to his name, and demands to know why. Any Muslim travelling in Europe face hassles. One world renowned economist, not a Caucasian nor a British subject, was made to look like a criminal when leaving New York after Sept 11 for his residence in England, and it appeared to him they wanted to trip him so he could be detained under the new terrorism laws in the United States.

Hong Kong immigration hauls up any with a "bin" to his name, and demands to know why. Any Muslim travelling in Europe face hassles. One world renowned economist, not a Caucasian nor a British subject, was made to look like a criminal when leaving New York after Sept 11 for his residence in England, and it appeared to him they wanted to trip him so he could be detained under the new terrorism laws in the United States.

Recently, the head of the Hong Kong monetary system was in town for a talk. Nothing unusual about it. Except that the man was once a high ranking official in Bank Negara Malaysia, went to the World Bank, when the ?glass ceiling? hit him as it does any who are not mediocre, and is now in Hongkong. He is not the only one.

Why Boao? The forum is China's idea, says Ajit, and "Boao is as far south from Beijing as it can get, and close to Hong Kong," with its town's "superb" facilities and quiet surroundings was "perfect" for large congregations. And, no doubt, attract inconvenient demonstrations against it severely controlled.

The UMNO extraordinary general meeting over the weekend (18 Nov 00) was its all but last chance to put its house in order. The Prime Minister, its president, hangs on to office because, as he told a Hong Kong interviewer, his deputy, in UMNO and government, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is incompetent. He would cling on to office until he is ready. When would that be? When he decides it is time to go. When would that be? You shall know at the time. The rules need changing. Why? To return the party to its members, branches and divisions. So, when the 2,000-odd delegates appeared at the Putra World Trade Centre, they were not there to raise UMNO to its greatness but for a wake. The serious conflicts in UMNO were swept under the proverbial carpet while it decided the rules needed changing first. For the first time in memory, the proceedings, except for the Prime Minister's opening and closing speeches, were in camera. If it was one of UMNO's life-and-death that must be in secret, why then is the presidential secret open. One would have thought he would have to take delegates into their confidence and tell them the facts of their dilemma. So, it could not have been that. It was not.

I would have thought, a simple exchange of Third World newspapers represented overseas send their articles to a common editorial pool, besides the news agency or newspaper he writes for, and from there despatch it to member countries. But this is too simple and does not allow delegates large expense accounts to decide about it in Tahiti. Since those Third World journalists sent overseas often take it upon themselves to go on an extended holiday with pay, even that would be self-defeating. Bernama and several Malaysian newspapers have staff correspondents in regional capitals, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and the United States. But open any Malaysian newspaper, and you cannot find the Malayan report of an event in distant fields. The New Straits Times had had an office and reporter in London for decades, but don't expect any reports from its bureau of events in the United Kingdom. The Star has one in London, New York, Hong Kong, but they do not file, except a wrapup of news culled from the local newspapers. When I once took a British cabinet minister to lunch, on a visit there nearly two decades ago, I invited the Malaysian reporters there to come along, all there for more than three years. None had met him, and they were upset with me when I told them everything heard at the table was off the record. Yet, when these journalists work for Western news organisations, their output and their professionalism rises beyond their wildest dreams.

Mr Rejal Arbee was at first unaware if the Berjaya Group had an interest in the Sun Media Group, but accepted it was, during cross examination, when the company search on it, which listed Berjaya Group as its second largest shareholder, below that of its executive chairman, Tan Sri Vincent. He admitted that reporters, once having submitted their stories, did not have any power over its publication. He accused Mr Sahatheven of not attributing three paragraphs of the story, which he went to suggest was fabricated. Mr Sahatheven was sacked after a letter of demand for an apology and other compensation from one aggrieved shareholder of Kestrel Hong Kong, who insisted the story quoting Mr Mokhzani Mahathir, was false. Mr Sahatheven provided a detailed note on the story, providing Mr Rejal with the sources and other relevant material to justify each paragraph in his story and it is his contention that none of them were called to verify the accuracy of the story. Mr Mokhzani himself did not protest or complain, never has. He has been subpoenaed as witness for Friday (tomorrow), but it does not appear if he could be called then. The judge postponed the case mid-day yesterday to Friday for him to consider a point of admissibility of evidence; he has indicated the case could go on to Saturday morning. It probably cannot finish even then.

The New Straits Times, in a front page banner headline today, screams: BANK OF ISRAEL DOESN'T ACCEPT DEPOSITS FROM INDIVIDUALS; a strapline above it reads: Embassy official dismisses claims that our ministers have accounts with it. Two NST reporters commendably telephoned the Israeli Embassy in Singapore to check on alleged bank deposits maintained with the BoI; the first secretary of economic affairs, Mr Oren Tamari, very correctly pointed out that as a central bank, it does not accept deposits from individuals. "The Bank of Israel is like Bank Negara in Malaysia, which supervises and regulated financial institutions," he said. "So, it is impossible for any one to keep accounts there. There is no way the bank will accept such deposits." Yes, the Bank of Israel had representative offices in several cities of the world, with one in Hong Kong, not Singapore.

But in deals like these are made, some one ought to pay, especially one major loser is an UMNO co-operative, KUBB. So, the Sime Bank's chief executive has resigned. But, like in the BMF scandal in Hong Kong which almost drowned Bank Bumiputra the first time -- it is in its third near-drowning this time -- the usual suspects would be rounded up and made an example of. I understand two or three men could well be charged for violating BAFIA: a banker, the alleged owner of a Bolehland stock broking firm, and a Bolehland entrepreneur. All three, it seems, concocted a scheme to use a bank's funds to "corner" the market for the entreneur's company shares. This is, of course, illegal, especially when it throws eggs on a company profile. I need not, of course, say that but for protection, all three would have disappeared without trace a while ago. But, as is well known in Bolehland, one is safe unless it exceeds Bolehland's traditionally native, permissible stink.

The Malaysian leader, on his recent return from two months' leave, was in Hong Kong for the World Bank/International Monetary Fund meeting last month, where he crossed swords with the man he had characterised as a "moron". Mr Soros struck back with both rhetoric and reasoned argument, and that led to a further pressure on the ringgit, which moved from RM2.50 to RM3.40 for one US dollar, with each Mahathirian riposte only worsening the situation. Dr Mahathir, in Chile, this month, continued to insist on his right to speak out, to ensure the uncertainty remains.

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