When Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi spoke of "First World infrastructure, Third World mentality", I could not really grasp the full meaning of this phrase. But since then, a couple of incidents that happened in Ipoh have helped me to understand the actual meaning of

this entire sentence.

On April 13, a college student, Lai Kar Leong, 20, was having a date with his girlfriend at the Ipoh Padang when three City Council men approached them. These men accused them of indecent behaviour under the Ipoh Municipal Council Bylaw 1985 and issued them each a RM100 summon. They appealed to the City Council and this amount was later reduced to RM30. However, this is not the end of the story but rather the beginning.

Another college student, Ramesh Thanasegaran, 20, received a summon for talking to a female classmate at the stairway of the Tun Razak Library on May 6. The summon was later cancelled because the alleged offence happened at a library and not at a park.

According to the City Council, the above individuals were summoned for indecent behaviour. Lai and his girlfriend were kissing and hugging each other when they were "caught". Lai denied this and said they were only holding hands - what every other couple normally do. In the case of Ramesh, the City Council men found them behaving "suspiciously" under the staircase while the former claimed that he was only talking to his friend.

When the media got hold of these stories and published them, the public was outraged. There were many protests and chief among them came from the Ipoh Ratepayers and Taxpayers Association, Perak Information Network Service Organisation, Ipoh City Watch, etc. Even Menteri Besar Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali found himself in a spot when he was asked whether dating or courting was now a forbidden act.

All of this publicity started because of one man. Ipoh has just appointed a new mayor six months ago - Sirajuddin Salleh.

During an interview in Kuala Lumpur, he commented his action as adhering to moral principles and the summons were what society wanted to ensure that our youths follow Asian values. In retaliation, a member of the public told him to perform his duty according to what is stated under the Local Government Act 1976 as he was not elected as the city's moral guardian.

Whatever actually took place in Lai and Ramesh's cases will never be known as all parties involved insist their version is the truth. Nevertheless, this does not give the mayor the justification to act against them by accusing them of indecent behaviour.

This is because what constitutes as decent or indecent is a very subjective matter and highly dependent on a person's cultural and religious background. In Islam, an unmarried couple are not allowed to hold hands, hug or kiss each other while other religions are vague in this area.

Sirajuddin, the self-appointed moral guardian of the Ipoh folks, has made us the laughing stock of the international community. Maybe the mayor need to rethink about his appointment since he is so pre-occupied with decency and not on clearing rubbish, clogged drains and getting rid of mosquitos which should be the focus of the City Council.