What a joy it was the other day to see Nicol David retain her women's World Open squash title. She did herself proud, by all accounts, with a glorious display of not just talent but also fighting spirit.

Her gutsy victory also provided a sorely-needed if vicarious shot of pride for the millions of her fellow Malaysians still smarting from the disgraceful exhibition a week earlier of the junior-league 'leaders' of Umno Youth.

What a welcome change it was to see a pretty girl proudly holding her hard-won cup instead of some plug-ugly thuggishly brandishing his keris . To see a Malaysian world-beater winning on her merits, not whining about special handouts and 'sacred' privileges.

Succeeding single-handed with nothing but a racquet, not by making a racist racket or, like some prominent public figures, by engaging in outright racketeering.

No, I'm not attempting to politicise Nicol's triumph. Just pointing-out the stark comparison between her desirability as a role-model for young Malaysians - all Malaysians - and the utterly undesirable example provided by Umno's team of jumped-up juveniles.

On a more positive note, however, Malaysia's reflected glory on the squash court was simultaneously if coincidentally repeated in the law courts, one of which gave a former civil servant a major serve for playing dirty.

Sentencing former Kangar Municipal Council president Baharuddin Ahmad to four years' jail and RM405,000 in fines for soliciting RM387,500 in bribes from a property developer, Kangar Sessions Court Judge Rosilah Yop also reportedly made the point that the defendant had tarnished the image of the council, the Perlis government and the country.

And I guess he has, at that,, although the images he tarnished may not necessarily have been all that bright beforehand. I have no earthly idea of anyone's perception of the Kangar council or Perlis either pre- or post- the Baharuddin case.

Reality bites

But as everybody in the world who is interested well knows by now, Malaysia put in a far from sparkling performance on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index in the past year, falling to 44th place in the 2006 rankings from 39th in 2005.

So the nation's image, at least as far as its attempts to squash corruption are concerned, looks very dull indeed in the light of Nicol's achievement in acing the competition to retain the No. 1 slot in her sport.

And also decidedly drab compared with Singapore's brilliant No. 5 placing on the Corruption Perception Index, though admittedly less tarnishing of the nation's image than Thailand's terrible 63, China's and India's even worse 70, the Philippines' appalling 121, Indonesia's dreadful 130 and Myanmar's utterly miserable 160.

But perception and image, good or bad, aren't really the point. Nicol's ranking in the world of women's squash isn't just a perception, it's a fact. And unless and until Malaysia gets serious about combating corruption, who cares what anyone's perception of the situation might be, as long as the reality is so second-rate?

The investigation and conviction of one bent municipal council president should certainly win the authorities some points, but it's hardly game, set and match. What about the dozens if not hundreds more officials who are clearly on the fiddle and on the take, and getting away with it?

What about menteris besar who excuse, condone and collude with them? And what about all the other bigwigs, like ministers with portfolios that empower them to approve lucrative contracts, and the departmental minions who do their bidding...or not, as the case may be?

When is there going to be an investigation of just one small example of these irregularities or worse, like the allegedly disproportionate numbers of Approved Permits (APs) issued to associates of the trade and industry minister, as persistently highlighted by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and many others?

And whatever became of the allegedly scandalous so-called 'cloning' of APs by officers of a company majority-owned by a senator, who claimed to know nothing of the matter as he had delegated management of the company to his son?

And while we're in a wondering mood, what progress has the Anti-Corruption Agency made, or what investigations has it put into train, as a result of its recently-revealed process of monitoring some 1,500 individuals identified as apparently prospering beyond their legitimate means and incomes?

A question that inevitably reminds us of former Klang assemblyman Zakaria Mat Deros, whose RM8 million istana is - as far as I've heard - still standing despite the demolition of his illegally-built restaurant.

Aussie scandal

But in fairness to Malaysia, and lest I appear guilty of sour grapes at the fact that it was one of my fellow Australians that Nicol out-racqueted to brilliantly retain her World Squash title, I have to confess that my homeland is mounting a bold challenge in the world rackets arena with the Howard government's strenuous attempts to escape implication in a massive scandal involving the United Nations food-for-oil scheme in Iraq.

As Jeffrey Francis reported in his 'Down Under' column in the last week's Sunday Star , the Australian government, despite receiving 35 warnings since 1998 and now a 2,056-page report following a 76-day hearing on the paying of kickbacks to the former Saddam Hussein regime by the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), still denies prior knowledge of or involvement in the scam.

And despite Australian farmers' loss of their A$500 million-a-year wheat trade with Iraq as a result of the AWB's illicit activities, none of the 13 officers found to be implicated in "dishonesty, making false or misleading false statements, destruction of evidence and breach of foreign exchange regulations" has been charged.

So in Australia, Malaysia and everywhere else; in politics, business and even those sports that - unlike the apparently squeaky-clean game of women's squash that Nicol dominates - are persistently dogged by doping and match-fixing scandals, there's a more crying need every day for honest, impartial, open umpiring. And courts with the power, independence and probity to enforce the umpires' decisions.