The play is the thing. The stage is set in a tropical country. Enter the King, returning from a journey.

His deputy bows deeply.

Deputy: "What can we do, your Excellency? The people are demanding your arrest. They say you have ruined the country, that you have appointed small men to be judge. The Chief Judge himself is stoppered. The people shout for his resignation."

King: "Divert them." (pointing offstage)"Attack their bread and oil supply." (Turning, he points toward a burned tent). "We'll say an enemy has undermined the youth, and that we must teach them to respect the law."

At right are a shipload of singers and musicians, arrested by King's officers, shabbily dressed in turbans and gowns.

King: "Now ... release the men, but hold the women. It's a wonderful diversion. It confuses everyone, including our own people, making them believe the arresting officers favour the opposition. This depresses and angers the people, who are suspicious, and recognise our guile, but still they are confused."

Deputy: "The people are saying we do not pray. They say we have lost our way."

King: "It is those imam in the mosques who are doing this. Pack the mosque committees. Make sure the imam read only the prepared text. No exceptions."

Deputy: "Your Excellency, the people are saying that the enemy is our Muslim brothers. They are seen to be compassionate and tolerant. Yet we portray them as extremist, with a gender bias."

King: "Wear your songkok and your kain more. Speak at the mosques. At least you still have some credibility left. As for the non-halal arrests, get all the publicity you can. Spread the lie widely for best effect. Use our media. Create diversion, diversion."

Deputy: "The civil servants have become disputatious and rebellious, refusing to lie for us anymore."

King: "Teach them who is in charge. Humiliate them. Make them attend the King's Compulsory Prayer every Jumaat. Keep them for an hour. Let them know who runs this corner of the world."

Deputy: "There have been some mistakes made, your Highness. In the trial a witness testified you ordered him to stop an investigation. What do we do?"

King: "Don't respond to it. Ignore it."

Deputy: "They have filed a polis report."

King: "We will stop it in the Vizier's department again. It cannot go anywhere."

Deputy: "What about the boxing Polis Captain? We are portraying ourselves as respecters of the law, and the people cry out for his punishment to begin."

King: "Give him another postponement, say he is too ill to face prison."

Deputy: "And your previous minister, the man I replaced, he is still in the cellar, what will we do with him? The people ask why he has no bail."

King: "Wait until the furore dies down some more, then we can get rid of him. It is too dangerous now. His people are still anxious for him. We must not seem cruel."

Deputy: "The people are demanding answers about a lot of things, it is getting difficult. What do we do?"

King: "Don't be such a kitten. Just shake your finger in their face and say, 'Prove it! Prove it!' It works every time. Diversion! diversion! Don't you know anything about strategy?"

The play is the thing. The audience courteously watches, applauding gently as the act ends. Some slip quietly away to tend business.

The theatre is well guarded, carefully maintained, with routine inspections. Below the stage, termites faithfully digest the supports, invisible, silent.

HARUN RASHID is a scientist avidly interested in the application of Islamic principles in international affairs. The promotion of goodwill through civilisational dialogue motivates his writing. His Worldview column is a personal analysis of Malaysian affairs from a global perspective.