opinion These days I am holed up at the Tivoli - too frightened to venture forth. If the students, supposedly burning down buildings with every breath, don't get me then the black metal occultists probably will.

Reading news at the breakfast table of the decapitation of black goats was a bit alarming. The corn flakes nearly came back. I thought choosing to reveal the satanic goings on deep in the forest was an odd choice for a minister attending the opening of a kindergarten.

I rather like black metal bands - I thought it was heavy metal, nor sure where the black comes from - although a little too loud for my more conservative tastes these days. I certainly have not felt any urge to get a tattoo, wear dark robes or drink the blood of goats. (I did say I was rather conservative.)

There don't seem to any occultists among the folk at the Tivoli - I keep looking out the window at midnight to check. For that matter, I have not seen any building burners either. The crime blitz I keep reading about has alluded me too.

So far, there have not been any attempts on my life - not that I am aware off - to get the numbers for the lotteries. I sent news of the finding of the body of the American woman thought to have been murdered in such a bizarre way to my mum.

She normally picks the numbers by getting the dog to walk over cardboard squares. I have not checked recently to find out if she has murdered any of the neighbours. She is certainly getting desperate, as she has never won the big prize in more than 40 years.

Dull students

I am rather confused about the crime blitz; one moment I read in the newspapers about grisly killings the next I'm being told that crimes in Kuala Lumpur are decreasing. The students are equally as confusing. Most of the Malaysian students I have met have been mild-mannered, even a touch dull. Something dramatic must have happened since my student days.

The Malaysian boys who went to my school in Perth - regretfully there were no girls - were all very well-behaved. They used to get teased not for racist motives, but simply because they were so good at science and mathematics.

My father, a retired lecturer in accountancy at an Australian university, used to swear by Malaysian students, particularly the girls. If he had his way, all his Australian students would have been thrown out and replaced with Malaysians.

There were certainly no building burners on my campus, not that I was ever there long enough to check. My student days were blissful - endless parties, surfing and chasing girls. I can't ever remember attending a lecture.

I don't imagine that the modern Malaysian student is much different, possibly more politically correct. It seems farfetched to think that the campus has become a hotbed of unrest. Anyway, I thought students were supposed to be politically active, young minds challenging cant and prejudice.

The natural progression from a yearning to change the world to bored executive balancing the mortgage and family budget.

Hard to swallow

But the image of the students as building burners has gone up in smoke recently. After students endured every sort of calumny and vilification, it appears faulty wiring caused the infamous blaze. The report into the hallowed building is likely to be buried under the relevant minister's desk.

The suggestion that laws related to the campus be changed is preposterous. What more unlawful powers do the authorities want? They all already have the invidious Internal Security Act (ISA). They can already throw students off the campus and prevent them from studying somewhere else.

Even the Marquis de Sade would have problems coming up with more draconian punishment. Perhaps, burning at the stake could be introduced.

The sudden degeneration of Malaysian society is equally as incredulous as the universities being in revolt. The litany of social evils paraded by the mainstream press is increasingly hard to swallow.

The Prime Minister has laid the blame for social degeneration entirely on the shoulders of the Malays. Surely, the Malays can't be blamed for everything - at least they can't be culpable for the return of the dreaded South-East Asian haze to the Kuala Lumpur skyline.

It is no coincidence that the Prime Minister's more strident criticism has come as his support base among Malays falls to its lowest level. The crackdowns on the campus have more to do with rising support for PAS than any concern at an increase in political activism.

Parading the spectre

Malaysia is not the only South-East Asian country undergoing the growing pains of development. Thailand has an even greater problem with drugs than Malaysia. All too often social evils, unfortunately, tend to be a natural progression of development.

To apportion blame and conduct witch-hunts is not the answer. Solutions can only be found in an atmosphere free of hysteria and fanaticism. The hotheads are not on the campus, but among the Government and the mainstream media.

Some of the editorials from the mainstream media make the torturers of the Spanish inquisition appear moderate. And under the cloak of social evils, it is easy to drown out rising concern at the Government's handling of the economy, the bailouts of companies connected to the former finance minister.

The menace of social evils can easily become a mechanism to strengthen the government's grip on power.

Parading the spectre of social evils is a more subtle approach than the flagrant crushing of the reformasi movement with the ISA. Concern at the black metal groups has led to crackdowns on pornography and a bid to change the entertainment laws.

No one can object to a crackdown on pornography. But, where is the line drawn when the motive for a spiritual purge is suspect?

The 'missiles' aimed at the Internet may strike down purveyors of filth, but it is easy to conveniently takeout some of the government's perceived enemies at the same time. Along with the Nasty Nymphs site it is just as easy to remove malaysiakini.

ALICE WONDER is the pseudonym of a leading Australian newspaper's senior correspondent based in Malaysia who has 25 years experience as a journalist, 18 of them in Asia.