Now we know former MCA president Tun Ling Liong Sik is the only Chinese man in Malaysia who has not been involved in acts of fornication.

He told a story recently: "Bapa Malaysia" Tunku Abdul Rahman once challenged the MPs who had not been involved in adultery to raise their hands at the Parliament. In the end no one had the guts to raise their hands except one man, Tan Chee Khoon.

At the end of the story, he tossed out the conclusion: Isn't the Chinese community like that?

He said many high-profile men are facing the problem of excess energy, so they must find themselves an outlet to release that excess energy.

And the main point was: "I'm not talking about myself."

Ling's story is downright exciting. It has opened our eyes to the fact that he is the only innocent man around, and the only man who has not committed "wrongful acts any man under the sun would commit."

I don't mean to challenge Ling's authority. Taking cue from this widely respected old man, however, I would also like to relate another story to you.

Once upon a time in ancient China, there was this incorrupt official named Yang Zhen, who was despatched to a place called Dong Lai. On the way there he put up a night at a small town in today's Shandong province. The local county chief Wang Mi, whom Yang had recommended for a government post, paid him a visit at the inn.

Before leaving, Wang offered Yang some gold bars as gift and said, "Just a token of appreciation from me. Anyway, it's now late at night and no one would know about this."

Yang refused to take the bribe. "Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know and I know. How can you say no one would know?"

The humiliated Wang kept the glittering gift and left in embarrassment.

These two stories are unrelated in any way, while the value systems they portray are also vastly different.

The message that Ling Liong Sik tried to emphasise is: As long as your adulterous acts are not told to anyone, no one would know them and there wouldn't be any problem at all.

And the story of Yang Zhen refusing to accept bribes stresses another thing: Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know and I know. Which is, moral conscience!

Ling had deep hatred for the culprit who videotaped the acts of adultery, and cited the extramarital relationship of the late US president John F Kennedy to illustrate his point that "all guys are naughty."

What was he trying to prove? Is it that "women only love naughty guys?" or "all guys are the same?" or they are hypocrits whose "potentials are yet to be developed" and should therefore be sent to "potential development classes?"

Oh, no! I must rephrase it: "I'm not talking about myself!" (By LIM MUN FAH/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)