That is the way things go in Malaysia these days. The peculiarity was attributed to the supportive buying of "local institutions and funds," who bought "index-linked" blue chips right at the close. Since this is the daily routine, there was hardly any notice. The phenomenon of a ripping short-covering rally was not mentioned anywhere. The enormous increase in volume to support this rally, almost 500% above recent levels, was not mentioned. The fact that such volume was unsustainable was likewise overlooked.

A young man of Chinese descent was arrested by the police, and during his detention he was tortured by beating him on the feet with rubber hoses, electrocuted with cattle prods, threatened by aiming a gun loaded with one bullet and pulling the trigger in a game of Russian Roulette. Three policemen participated in this lark, until the young man was shot in the head.

He was taken to a clinic for first aid after it was found that he was surprisingly still alive. He had been repeatedly asked to take the pistol into his hand, which would have been justification for killing him, but he was able to forsee this, and kept his fists clenched. This did not prevent him from being shot, however, and when it became clear that he was not going to die, he was taken for medical aid, with instructions to say the injury arose from a motorcycle accident. None of the newspapers carried the story. None of the TV stations carried the story. It was reported only on the internet.

That is the situation in Malaysia today.

The government condemned the use of force by Israel against Palestine. The UN was invited to send a mission to intervene in these "internal affairs of a sovereign nation." No minister spoke out against the police brutality. Not one. The inspector-general of police said not a word. The UN was not invited to send a mission to Malaysia. Malaysia's ambition is to be a developed nation. The government sports a veneer of Islamic morality.

That is the situation in Malaysia today.

The pm made another speech in praise of knowledge. He mentioned the economic benefits of knowledge. He gave examples of how money was made on the internet. He did not mention the police brutality. He did not mention the fact that the police force is almost all Malay. He did not mention the high level of police killing in which predominantly Malaysians of Indian descent have been executed by shots to the head. He did not not mention the difference between technological development and spiritual development.

That is the situation in Malaysia today.

Today the pm flies to Korea to lecture the world on the Malaysian way. He is expected to take his usually high moral tone. He will ignore the fact that Malaysia is among the more corrupt countries of Asia, and that the judiciary is so corrupt that foreign investors avoid Malaysia. He probably will talk of the Malaysian recovery from the crisis. He may talk of the high level of tourism.

He will not talk of the high level of personal, corporate and government debt. He will not talk of the enormous stake his family and friends have in the Malaysian economy. He will not mention that he is protecting his personal interests. He will not mention the heavy taxi traffic between the large Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the luxury hotels, as wealthy retirees from Hong Kong and Singapore arrive to remove their money from Malaysia. Nor will the local newspapers. Nor will the local TV. You will only read these things on the internet.