Yeeeeeeeeesh.
So this morning, we received the news that the nine men who decided to get way too inappropriately loose at the Sepang Formula 1 Grand Prix in Malaysia could be facing up to 6 months in jail.
Their crime? Stripping down to just Speedos as Aussie racer Daniel Ricciardo won, singing ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi’, doing shoeys with their beers, and just generally being rowdy. Oh, and their budgie smugglers were emblazoned with the Malaysian flag.
Photo: @nikasyraaf / Twitter.
Now, let’s be clear: in Australia, there’s nothing wrong with swimwear, there’s nothing wrong with shoeys, and there’s nothing wrong with having a few beers and having a good time.
But there *is* something wrong with getting so recklessly drunk in a foreign country that you break multiple laws. And there sure as hell something wrong with premeditating a public action you know will be offensive to people of that country, but choosing to do it anyway.
That doesn’t make you a larrikin, it makes you a bit of a prick, really.
Many Malaysian people posted their disgust for the men’s disrespectful behaviour to social media. Police officials have denounced the mens’ actions, and Sepang International Circuit chief executive officer Datuk Razlan Razali told press that the Aussies should be “locked up, investigated and taken action against”.
Julie Bishop has even made a statement this morning on ‘TODAY‘, saying once again that laws of countries one visits must be obeyed, and if you break the laws the Australian government can’t just “bail you out”. Isn’t it mad that that even has to be said? Thinking you are above the law as a guest in another country is the eyeroll-worthy height of class privilege.
But never fear – there is some support for these nine blokes who can’t be bothered to consider that they might not actually be above the law.
The Daily Telegraph have rallied around the nine men, with a front cover that truly might make you eyeroll with such intensity that you might get dizzy.
Here ya go, have a gander:
Ahhh, yes. ‘Australian humour is more important than your federal law’; a fresh new take from a paper that houses a plethora of conservative writers who believe law-abiding immigrants should drop every skerrick of their cultural background into a bin and “assimilate” into Australia’s “culture”** upon arrival.
“To our dear recalcitrant, humourless Malaysian friends…” should win some kind of award for being the most passive-aggressive, patronising sub-headline of all time. Walkley Award people, where you at, fam?
Let’s do a deep-dive here for a hot sec, and look at a dictionary definition for ‘recalcitrant’:
Are… are DT trying to say that that Australia is some kind of authority over Malaysia, and they’re acting like uncooperative, petulant teenagers? You betcha.
Plus, if we wanna talk about “humourless” law enforcement, the Tele might want to acknowledge that shitloads of young Aussies – just like these men – are taking long, expenno OS holidays purely so they can enjoy partying in places that aren’t restricted by lockout laws.
And finally, referring to them as ‘The Budgie 9’… we are truly dumbfounded. (And, they’re not the only place to run with it 
)
)It’s very clearly a play on ‘The Bali 9′, which is one of Australia’s most heartbreaking stories – we, as a country, collectively begged another to have mercy on two of our citizens’ lives.
Instead, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing squad, when they could have received rehabilitation and non-capital justice in order to assist them in becoming self-sufficient, law-abiding citizens. They’d already spoken about how much rehabilitation had helped them. Instead, their lives were lost.
Comparing the two situations is… very presumptuous, and pretty dang gross.
But hey, according to The Daily Tele, the secret to peaceful international relations is to be patronising/grim as hell when supporting drunk people who think their shithouse jokes are more important than federal law. Duh.
Source/Photo: Daily Tele.
** The white Anglo Australian culture that they’re speaking of was literally shipped here and cultivated by immigrants, so… that’s confusing.*
