The stock exchange had another "up day," with the KLCI closing a further seven points toward heaven. All the major newspapers and the TV stations carried this news.

It was also reported that there were about 500 stocks which decreased in price, while less than 100 increased in price.

That is the way things go in Malaysia these days. The peculiarity was attributed to the supportive buying of "local institutions and funds", who bought "index-linked" blue chips right at the close. Since this is the daily routine, there was hardly any notice. The phenomenon of a ripping short-covering rally was not mentioned anywhere.

Elsewhere, a young man was arrested by the police, and during his detention he was allegedly tortured by police who beat him on the feet with rubber hoses, subjected to electric shock treatment, threatened by aiming a gun loaded with one bullet and pulling the trigger in a game of Russian Roulette. Three policemen participated in this lark, until the young man was shot in the head.

He was taken to a clinic for first aid after it was found that he was surprisingly still alive. He had been repeatedly asked to take the pistol into his hand, but he kept his fists clenched. This did not prevent him from being shot, however, and when it became clear that he was not going to die, he was taken for medical aid, with instructions to say the injury arose from a motorcycle accident. Most of the newspapers and none of the TV stations carried the story. It was reported widely on the Internet.

That is the situation in Malaysia today.

The government condemned the use of force by Israel against Palestine. The UN was invited to send a mission to intervene in these "internal affairs of a sovereign nation". No minister spoke out against the police brutality. Not one. The inspector-general of police said not a word. The UN was not invited to send a mission to Malaysia. Malaysia's ambition is to be a developed nation. The government sports a veneer of Islamic morality.

That is the situation in Malaysia today.

The prime minister made another speech in praise of knowledge. He mentioned the economic benefits of knowledge. He gave examples of how money was made on the Internet. He did not mention the police brutality. He did not mention the high level of police killing, in which many of the victims were Indians. He did not mention the difference between technological development and spiritual development.

That is the situation in Malaysia today.

Today the PM flies to South Korea to lecture the world on the Malaysian way. He is expected to take his usually high moral tone. He will ignore the fact that Malaysia is among the more corrupt countries of Asia, and that confidence in the judiciary is so eroded that foreigner investors avoid Malaysia. He probably will talk of the Malaysian recovery from the crisis. He may talk of the high level of tourism.

He will not talk of the high level of personal, corporate and government debt. He will not talk of the enormous stake his family and friends have in the Malaysian economy. Nor will the local newspapers. Nor will the local TV. You will only read these things on the Internet.

That is the situation in Malaysia today.

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.