KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 ― As Malaysia decides the fate of nine Australians arrested for stripping down to swimmers bearing the Malaysian flag at the Formula 1 circuit, their home country’s media continue to debate what consequences they deserve for their antics.
A senior Australian journalist suggested today that the nine men did so deliberately with the intent to provoke, rather than by accident.
“Yes, it was exuberant Grand Prix-inspired high spirits. But even so, one might think that maybe, just maybe, drunkenly nuding up in a predominantly Muslim country might be an unnecessarily silly thing to do, even without adding insult to existing insult by tucking one's genitals into the symbol of your host country.
“Maybe it's best not to use flags as clothing at all. Unless you're deliberately trying to provoke people, of course, in which case you should probably anticipate some interesting consequences,” Sydney-based journalist and editor Andrew P Street wrote in a commentary for the Sydney Morning Herald.
In the article titled “Wearing flags never ends well, so stop doing it”, he also pointed out that the Australian government has advised travellers on conservative standards in Malaysia, and added that ministerial policy adviser Jack Walker ― who was one of the nine ― should be aware of the code of conduct for ministerial staffers.
Even though he criticised Putrajaya for its “ridiculously heavy-handed” response, Street said Malaysia’s “hard-and-fast laws” are not exactly secret, and listed heavy penalties for homosexual activity, drug trafficking, and even insulting the royal family.
Another daily, broadsheet The Australian in its editorial also chastised the nine, acknowledging that the act was likely to cause deep offence when it involves the national flag.
“The men, aged 25 to 29, who are expected to face court today, should have known better,” the paper said in an article titled “Pranksters’ lack of respect”.
“Despite the fact most of them attended elite schools and several studied government and international relations at university, they showed abysmal ignorance of the need for Australians to respect the laws, sensitivities, and symbols of countries they visit.”
The paper however urged Malaysia not to over-react, and to treat the incident as “silly horseplay” that does not deserve importance, rather than an insult.
“Whatever the Malaysians decide, the case is a reminder, for the umpteenth time, of the trouble Australian travellers face when they behave foolishly, leaving overworked consular officials to pick up the pieces, at taxpayers’ expense,” it wrote.
“A modicum of thought would have gone a long way. They are not schoolboys but adults, with responsible jobs, including one as a ministerial adviser. They should have had more sense.”
The media response today contrasted with the Australian nationalistic sentiment projected by its conservative tabloid The Daily Telegraph yesterday, which carried a front page demand for the nine to be freed, addressed to its “dear recalcitrant, humourless Malaysian friends”.
The tabloid also named Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed as one of those “recalcitrant”, and played down the nine’s removal of clothes to swimwear in the middle of a motorsports race circuit as mere “larrikinism” — an Australian English term for mischief by young and rowdy men, who are ultimately good-hearted.
The nine Australian men, aged between 25 and 29, were nabbed for public indecency and for allegedly disrespecting the national flag after they stripped to their briefs in public at the race circuit.
They reportedly flashed their custom-made Budgy Smugglers swimwear, emblazoned with the Malaysian flag, in a crowd while chanting and shaking the Australian flag to celebrate Australian Daniel Ricciardo’s first Formula One victory of the season.
International newswire Reuters reported the authorities as saying that the Australians could face indecency charges or deportation.
