Malaysia's mainstream media, so much immersed in dirt and sleaze particularly during the last general elections, predictably, as if religiously going through a ritual of atonement, exercised great restraint when faced with a Pahang Mentri Besar whose recent public misconduct is reminiscent of the darker side of the comic legend Dennis the Menace.

This you-got-to-see-it-to-believe-it incident, which occurred on the nomination day of the Sanggang, Pahang by-election, i.e. March 21, 2000, seems to have all the ingredients of news-making. It is spectacular, out of the ordinary, unexpected, and involves a person of purportedly political and social eminence. In short, it has fulfilled most of the news-values internalised by many weather-beaten journalists.

And yet, many of the mainstream newspapers chose to ignore or downplay this significant incident precisely because it concerns a senior politician from the ruling coalition and, most importantly, at a time when the Barisan Nasional, fiercely contesting with rival PAS for the Sanggang seat, cannot afford a politically embarrassing stunt.

Which is why, for example, the day after nomination day the pro-establishment New Straits Times carried on its front page a big photo, showing Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi giving moral support to and walking beside BN candidate Redzwan Harun, along with other BN bigwigs such as Melaka Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam, no less a controversial figure himself, and of course the man of the hour, Pahang Mentri Besar Adnan Yaakob.

There was not even a squeak about Adnan's public misdemeanor in the news pages nor was there moral outrage, if not wholesale support for, such a behaviour in the enlarged letters' column of the NST .

The NST apparently mulled over the issue until it decided to break the news to its readers on March 25, three days after the shameful incident. By any decent journalistic standard, this speed of reporting is certainly a snail's pace. Even then the paper didn't really report what happened.

The paper introduced the hot issue in two ways: first, a commentary by Shamsul Akmar, headlined "The two sides of the political divide must establish communication", in the "Saturday Notes" column where the writer commented on the Adnan issue and by and large trying to give some justification to that very act.

Second, the NST carried a news report headlined, "The opposition has blown nomination day issue out of proportion, says Adnan". Here Adnan, instead of being apologetic, went on the offensive and took this opportunity to lambast PAS for being what he considered nit-picking - "Even a small slip on my part."

The Star , on its part, published a report on March 23 a statement issued by Abdullah Badawi that he was in sympathy with Adnan for having been provoked by PAS supporters. He reasoned, "The Opposition supporters ...showed lewd signs to him (Adnan) first and he naturally reacted spontaneously."

If the news coverage of this incident by the mainstream media can be considered sedate, the one by the alternative media, particularly those on the Internet, is certainly rip-roaring. Malaysiakini , for instance, published on March 22 a report of the incident along with a photo of Adnan pumping his open palm against his clenched fist.

The Internet edition of the Harakah also carried similar photo and report. Aliran posted on its website a press statement attacking the ignominious conduct, and also three photos of Adnan in action.

The indefatigable Laman Reformasi , on the other hand, went one step ahead. It posted a short [#1] video clip [/#] of Adnan doing his own thing, filled with a riot of colours, sounds and mob excitement. By now, the video, apparently taken by an amateur on the scene, must have gone around the world and back.

Although this episode is indeed a media sensation in itself, we, however, are not suggesting that it should be covered by the mainstream media purely for the sake of sensationalism. What we're saying is that the Adnan "handiwork", to borrow NST 's Shamsul Akmar's term, deserves the media and public attention because it involves a high-profile representative of the people who has offended, without so much batting an eyelid, Malaysians' sense of propriety.

Adnan has broken or defied certain conventions, that is, social practices that are shared by members of society. A deed that violates these conventions can easily cause misunderstanding or resentment, or both, especially when it has the effect of blurring the line between the private and the public.

In addition, certain expectations come along with certain social status. A leader - irrespective of his/her political bent and party affiliation - of a state or government is expected to act, and think, in a fashion that is exemplary. This is especially true of politicians who have been entrusted to act on behalf of the people, the voters.

To act otherwise is to betray their trust and confidence, and, therefore, deserving of their condemnation and stinging criticisms. Indeed, most people wouldn't have taken much notice had the act been committed by an ordinary streetwise brat.

Even if, as Adnan and Abdullah Badawi had claimed, the former was provoked by an unruly opposition crowd, we would have expected Adnan as someone of that stature to have got a grip of himself so that any temptation to behave juvenile-like could have been halted immediately and, any political embarrassment could have been avoided. In short, he should have risen above the situation of the moment.

That such an act is morally injurious to the society concerned only underscores the people's disappointment when no public apology was forthcoming from government leaders concerned via the mainstream media. If anything, it only smacks of political arrogance that has been flaunted by many BN politicians of late.

And such arrogance becomes too unbearable to many of us as it gets easily magnified and overwhelming in an era where advanced information and communication technology makes possible the quick and efficient transmission of images of such debased human characteristic across cultural, political and physical barriers. Indeed, it doesn't do Malaysians proud within and outside the country.

In other words, an ignoble act committed somewhere in Malaysia can protrude like a sore thumb in the face of this Earth. It's a bad sign for human dignity.