If Bill Clinton is interested to conduct a lecture tour in Malaysia, I am sure there will be no objection from the government. Many will also join the scramble for the right to organise a Bill Clinton lecture in Kuala Lumpur or anywhere else in the country.

I am also sure that there will be many Malaysians, in particular those in high places, who are willing to part with several thousand ringgit just to hear Clinton speak for an hour or so. Hey, after all this is the former president of the United States!

However, if Monica Lewinsky wants to come to Malaysia to perform at a concert or a fashion show, I believe the reaction will be different.

One can expect the very typical Malaysian modus operandi of saying No. First, women groups will publicly state their displeasure. Then, our women ministers will exert pressure giving all sorts of reasons and ending usually with the not good role models for our people. Finally, someone from the Home Ministry, usually a male minister, will agree. So no visa, no Lewinsky.

If those assumptions are true, why should we be biased and penalise Lewinsky alone and not Clinton as well. If morality is the yardstick for our decision, the president and his intern are equally responsible for their actions.

Of course, Lewinsky is not likely to come to Malaysia for a concert performance or anything like that. Her brief sexual liaison with Clinton had already brought her fame and wealth in her part of the world, never mind the shame and disgrace.

But Chu Mei-feng is not American and her world is not the United States. She is a Chinese and her world is Asia where people, traditions and values certainly, are very different from the West.

Unfair and unwarranted

Even so, why should we, Malaysians, be judgmental about the morality of others and act so negatively against Chu? As far as the issue of morality goes, it is more important to examine our own conscience first and ask whether the sins committed by Chu have never befallen any Malaysian woman whom we personally know.

Our Asian values and cultures which we proclaim so often as more superior to the West should have taught us to forgive and forget, and help our neighbours who had suffered a misfortune to get up and get on with their lives.

Wanita Gerakan deputy chief Rhina Bhars scathing attack against Chu is a classic example of how some of our own Malaysian politicians are themselves such poor role models to the very values they have been preaching.

Rhina was quoted in The Star newspaper as saying that Chu is making money out of her notoriety. It is not a question of criminality, but of morality. We dont want to promote such characters.

She said that what Chu was doing, writing a book and now launching a singing career, was akin to criminals who write books to sensationalise their crimes and to absolve themselves.

Asked about the fact that Chu was actually the victim as her privacy was violated, Rhina retorted, We are not concerned about that. That was a violation of laws.

I think Rhinas remarks were totally unfair and unwarranted. It seems to people like Rhina, Chu should be condemned to the fires of hell with no right to any absolution whatsoever. Sometimes, the devil is even more merciful, I think.

Perhaps, it is precisely because of such personal attacks against her from strangers that Chu finds it necessary to go out and tell her side of the story.

While I dont think I will buy a ticket to see Chu at her concert, I will defend and support her desire to perform in Malaysia.

Private affair

Chu is not a convicted criminal. She conducted her private affairs in the privacy of her own flat unlike that big guy who did it in the Oval Office of the White House. She was a victim of circumstances and betrayal.

The revelations of her love life in her book may not go down well with certain quarters but the publication was legitimately necessary as a source of solace and comfort to herself, at least. She did not have to please anybody else.

If her plan to perform overseas was to launch a new career in singing after her political career went bust, then we should wish her luck. Let us look at the inner strength and determination of the lady and not just condemn her for her mistakes. Or would we be happier to see her go berserk and retire into seclusion or worse, be a name on the suicide index.

I have no intention to be preachy but just a reminder for those of us who are Christians: remember, Jesus Christ went all out to defend and forgive a prostitute. When the people wanted to stone her, Jesus stood up and said, Let those who have not sinned cast the first stone.

Chu Mei-feng is not even a prostitute. Neither did she pose nude for Playboy magazine. She was a politician, a councillor with the Taipei City Council.

By the way, did any of those Taiwanese members of parliament who fought like cats and dogs and turned their august house into a cowboy bar ever made their way to Malaysia or have been guests of MCA or Gerakan leaders? These are the characters who should not be welcomed. They are definitely unfit role models for Malaysian politicians.

I find the remarks by Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung and MCA Wanita chief Dr Ng Yen Yen that Chu wanted to come to Malaysia to make money both absurd and amusing.

The Star quoted Chor as saying that Chu Mei-feng has somehow managed to use the circumstances to make herself famous and make a lot of money. Ng had said that if Chu uses her private life to publicise and earn income, we are totally against it.

What! Did they honestly think that Chu Mei-feng should perform at a concert for free? How often had the MCA brought in celebrities from Hong Kong and Taiwan to perform at their functions. Did they do it for free? Did Sammi Cheng, Sally Yeh or Cheryl Cheung ever perform for free in Malaysia?

Of course, the organisers of the proposed Chu Mei-feng concert are out to make money. Of course, Chu will be paid too. The entertainment industry is big business. If Chu and her agents are able to turn a pain into gain, I would not be envious or jealous. I would salute their ingenuity and industriousness.

Double standards

If morality or role model are the genuine concerns of some of our Malaysian leaders, then the nations entertainment industry is in trouble.

To begin with, songs and video clips by Madonna, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and a horde of others should have been banned. Most of them are open about their promiscuous lives, had posed nude for magazines and even participated in pornographic videos. What lousy role models! Yet, they are regularly heard and seen on our radio and television stations.

Then, the Malaysian pride in Hollywood, Michelle Yeoh should also be frowned upon. She is not a good role model because she was involved in a passionate kissing scene with Pierce Brosnan in their James Bond flick.

Can some of our MCA leaders call Michelles parents in Ipoh then and tell them that their daughter is not a good role model for Malaysian girls just because of that screen kiss? Better still, petition for her datukship to be returned. Now, wouldnt all that be totally absurd!

The main problem with some of our Malaysian political leaders is that they think that the majority of their fellow citizens are nave, immature and perhaps even stupid, resulting in the notion that they have to be taught every time to distinguish between right and wrong, good or bad.

In the case of Chu Mei-feng, most Malaysians would not care whether she is right or wrong, good or bad. The 1,500 or 2,000 people who could fit into the MCA hall or the PGRM hall for her concert would probably get a good nights entertainment, sleep over it and forget about her the next morning.

So what is the fuss all about?

FRANCIS SIAH is a former Sarawak newspaper editor and is now a columnist for several publications. He is also the former secretary-general of the State Reform Party of Sarawak (Star).