I watched the prize presentation of the Wimbledon ladies' finals and was impressed with the simplicity, class and informality of the whole event which really captured the atmosphere. I could not help comparing it with what would most likely happen in our country.

Whilst Wimbledon used their ball girls and boys to line up along the way, we would most likely use some heavily decorated girls donning all kinds of headgears and costume that are neither Malay nor Malaysian.

Then there will be a few ladies who will pass on the prize from one to the other until it finally reaches the VIP, an official at the function, who hands it over to the VVVIP who will ultimately present it to the winner. (Somehow, the person who hands over the prize to the winner is never allowed to take it from one of the ladies.)

The VVVIP will also be given a huge corsage (more like a bouquet) and it will ruin his expensive batik shirt, but he dares not reject the pretty girl who welcomes him by pinning the corsage on him.

There will be speeches, and the salutations will be longer than the speech itself, and the winners do not get to speak at all. They will not be interviewed by the press either, and during the press conference, even the VVVIP will not talk about the event he is officiating but rather about some other unrelated matters. (The headline the next day will be on what he said rather than what function he attended.)

I saw the guest of honour at Wimbledon talking casually to some of the ball pickers (I doubt if our VVVIPs will do that). Immediately after they had given away the prizes, the guest of honour withdrew into the background and gave full exposure to the winner and runner-up.

This won't happen here. Our guests of honour will expect to see their faces in the papers the next day.

How nice if we can follow some of their ways, but then we in the east, "should not emulate the decadent west with their colonial mentality". But I have attended functions in many eastern countries like Japan and China and they too, do not have such onerous procedures like we do. In the end I have reached a conclusion that the 'over-formality' that we in Malaysia practise is truly a Malaysian creation by those who want to show their 'loyalty' and subservience.

Sometimes, even some of the VVVIPs are embarrassed by the way they are being treated and feted!