COMMENT  We are shamed abroad once again, this time by the humble veggie.

Malaysia has a very funny way of catching up with its citizens overseas. Just when you thought it was safe to take a break and put your feet in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres away, out of the blue Malaysia comes out to bite you.

A shark would have been unexpected but not unimagined. But kangkung on BBC in front of millions of other viewers around the world? Now that takes a huge bite out of our collective ' air muka ' (reputation).

Now, for the benefit of readers who had been abducted by aliens and kept in a spaceship thus missing out on the kangkung issue, here is a very brief summary.