The twist has reportedly triggered rumors that the woman, who appeared stockier than the fairskinned

Lock-up Abuse Inquiry: 'Episode caused unnecessary anguish'

KUALA LUMPUR, Wed. For the most puzzling fact from the inquiry, look no further than the statement by Lance Corporal Mat Suhaimi Nordin that he knew the woman in the video clip was a Malay and not a Chinese national, as widely reported by the Press.

He told the inquiry that after watching the clip on the news last month, he reported the matter to his superior officer. The puzzling part of this testimony was why this crucial nugget of information did not flow into the public domain.

If it had, the Government need not have apologised to the Chinese Government over the incident and sent a minister to Beijing to mend strained ties, said several prominent Malaysians interviewed by the New Straits Times.

Below are some of their views:

Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh said that even if the police were unsure of her race or nationality, they should have informed the authorities that she may not have been a Chinese national as reported in the media. "This should not have happened in Malaysia in 2005."

Suhakam commissioner Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam said: "It is the image of the nation that is at stake. The whole episode has caused us unnecessary anguish and embarrbuttment."

He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi acted in a "very professional" manner when he apologised to the Chinese authorities over the episode, noting that the media had continuously said the woman was a Chinese national.

Umno Tanjung complaints bureau chairman Md Haniffa Hamid said: "This episode happened several months ago. Some people even knew that the woman was not a Chinese national. But nobody chose to do anything."

He noted that some newspaper editors had acted unprofessionally by insisting that the woman was a Chinese national. "This is very unbecoming of them," he said.

Women's Development Collective executive director Maria Chin Abdullah said: "We apologised for doing something we never did. We spent money setting up a commission and sending our minister and deputy ministers to China. All this could have been avoided."