In Taipei

SHE was sent away from home by anxious parents eager to fend off her suitor in hot pursuit.

Undeterred, the suitor gave chase to an island 3,000 km away - only to be separated again after a fleeting rendezvous.

But this ain't a love story.

It was the gripping plot of Malaysia's recent political drama which has kept audience at home and abroad riveted.

"She" refers to 49 lawmakers from the ruling Barison Nasional coalition.

The "suitor", in this case, was Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the party of opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim.

The "parents"? Well, you should have guessed by now.

And aptly, the saga unfolded in Taiwan - the island of political drama.

Anwar triggered the political cat-and-mouse game when he vowed to topple the government on Sept 16. To do so, he has to convince 30 government MPs to defect to his camp.

In a move seen by some as a panic reaction, the government packed off 49 lawmakers to Taiwan on a hastily-arranged "agriculture" tour.

The MPs had vehemently denied claims that their study trip was a ploy to thwart Anwar's plans of forming a new government by his self-imposed deadline.

Afterall, there was a lot Malaysia could learn from Taiwan which is known for its agriculture technology.

"Taiwan's population is about 23 million. Malaysia has about 26 million people. Why is it that Taiwan has no need to import rice and can even export rice?" lawaker Tiong King Sing told this reporter.

Fair enough.

And they did spend time visiting a leisure farm, a fish farm, and a top-notch agricultural school - with lots of photos to prove.

"But isn't the timing too much of a coincidence?" I asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

It just so happened that it was the "best time" to travel for most of the MPs, I was told.

Coincidence do happen, I mumbled to myself.

But before the lawmakers could complete their tour of fruit orchards and fish farms, six gatecrashing PKR officials came knocking on their doors - literally - by checking into the same five-star hotel they were staying.

All of a sudden, the glitzy Sheraton Hotel in downtown Taipei became the scene for the political hide-and-seek. Reporters in Taiwan - where foreign news seldom hog headlines - were trying to make sense of the difference between Datuks and Tan Sris. All photographers were all set to capture the perfect Kodak moment of the PKR politicians walking slow-motion towards the MPs.

The much-anticipated encounter did not happen - at least not on photo.

Barely an hour before the PKR suitors set foot in the hotel last Friday(sept12), the MPs - who were seen mingling and chatting among themselves at the posh lobby just a day earlier - marched straight up to their rooms after dinner.

Rushing to pack for home, I was told.

And what a rush it was.

At 3.30am on a typhoon night, the MPs quietly checked out, hopped onto 20 taxis and flew out of Taipei reportedly several hours earlier than scheduled.

Till this day, nobody knew what happened under Sheraton's roof that stormy night. But this reporter was assured nothing took place along the quiet corridor.

"There was no meeting along the corridor," said PKR strategy director Saifuddin Nasution, one of the six-member team sent to woo the MPs.

But it remained a mystery who they contacted, when they met, and how they communicated.

"Did you call them? By Skype perhaps?" asked a persistent Malaysian reporter. Nice try.

"How about morse code?" I resisted the urge to ask.

While the saga has gripped many around the world, the Taiwanese - who are used to over-the-top brand of politics - remained unfazed.

"Malaysian MPs take a leaf from Taiwan's pork-barrel politics", read a headline in the mass-circulation United Daily News.

While critics said the episode has cast Malaysia in a bad light, some quipped that it has boosted the country's profile among Taiwanese.

Said one Taiwanese: "In the past, my knowledge of Malaysia was confined to the Petronas Twin Towers. Now, their MPs have really made an impression."

"I WISH he could vanish from the face of Earth."

These harsh words, targeted at former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, came from none other than pro-independence figure Ng Chiau-tong, one of Mr Chen's former advisers and staunchest suppporters.

Over the past few days, stunned supporters of the former Taiwanese leader have watched in disbelief as money-laundering allegations implicating Mr Chen and his family unfolded. For those who have stood by the former president despite charges that he pocketed some NT$14.8 million in official funds,  Mr Chen's admission last week that his wife transferred some US$21 million overseas was the last straw that eroded whatever remaining trust they had in him.

His confession came after news broke that the Swiss federal prosecutors had alerted Taiwan's judicial authorities to suspicious transactions involving Swiss bank accounts kept by his son and daughter-in-law. Mr Chen had earlier denied media reports on overseas bank accounts kept by his family members. But he was forced to come clean after an opposition lawmaker made public the letter from the Swiss authorities, which contained details on how massive funds were moved from one overseas account to another.

Mr Chen has insisted that the money came from political donations for his past campaigns, and were not  ill-gotten funds that he embezzled from the government coffers, as his critics had alleged. But for his disillusioned supporters, the mere act of secretly stashing his funds in overseas banks was a betrayal of his past vows of being a true, loyal Taiwanese who would never abandon the island.

Hence, it came as no surprise that the harshest criticism came from his staunchest supporters after the scandal broke. His former deputy Annette Lu criticised him as "too stupid, too greedy", while a grassroot supporter said he should "kill himself or at least kneel and beg for forgiveness". Some usually outspoken lawmakers from his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were simply too stunned or shamed for words. His decision to quit the DPP would do little to minimise the damage done to the beleaguered party, which is struggling to regain the support of Taiwanese.

Others lamented how Mr Chen - once hailed as the "son of Taiwan" for working his way up from a poor farmer's son to Taiwan's top man -  has sadly ended up as the "shame of Taiwan".

As the probe widens, more dirt will be thrown up. The case has already embroiled top judiciary officials suspected of holding up investigations into the money-laundering allegations and allowing Mr Chen's son and daughter-in-law to leave for the United States just days before the scandal broke.

The jury may be still out on whether Mr Chen is indeed guilty as charged, but the Taiwanese public have passed their verdict.

RA: How are the Taiwanese people looking at the Olympics in Beijing? Do they feel a sense of pride, or do they think like they would if the Olympics are being organised by another country?

OHH: For many Taiwanese, the Beijing Olympics have special significance because of the unique relationship between the longtime rivals. Taiwanese see it as their chance to fight back - for once - and even beat China on their home ground. With Taiwan fast losing the diplomatic battle for international recognition amid China's growing clout, it is a rare chance to boost the island's international exposure.

Despite the recent cross-strait rapprochement, many ordinary Taiwanese are still somewhat bitter that their athletes are not allowed to carry the ROC flag, and the fact that even spectators are barred from doing so at the Beijing Games. Instead of the ROC flag being hoisted and its national anthem being played when Taiwanese athletes win medal at Olympics, Taiwan has to make do with a special Olympic flag and anthem.

This time round, special attention will also be paid on whether Kuomintang chairman Wu Po-Hsiung - invited to the opening ceremony - will be seated with other state leaders.

RA: Taiwan sent a contingent there, like it did to other Olympic Games. But how do Taiwanese officials feel towards this Chinese Taipei team? Any sense of 'we must do better this time because it is being held in China'?

OHH: Olympic pride has been growing in Taiwan since its taekwondo team brought back Taiwan's first gold medals. The team had on two golds - at the Athen Olympics four years ago. Taiwan is hoping to beat its five-medal record at Athens. They are strong in taekwondo and archery, but the most-watched game would be baseball - the Taiwanese are crazy about baseball - especially when the Taiwanese team takes on Chinese team in a game scheduled for Aug 15th.

RA: Does cross-strait politics often play a part in sporting events?

OHH: Yes, China and Taiwan have a long history of political rivalry over the Olympics, which has long been a battlefield for political legitimacy between the two sides. In the 1950s, Beijing lobbied to have the IOC banished Taiwan from the Games. It didn't happen because of strong US backing for Taiwan. So Beijing withdrew from the IOC, until 1979 when Washington established formal diplomatic ties with China.

It was only until 1984 that Taiwan and China appeared together in a Summer Games in Los Angeles. But then, Taiwan had to compete under the name "Chinese Taipei", instead of its official title "Republic of China".

Last year, the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party - which was in power then - turned down Beijing's offer to include Taipei in the torch relay route because the torch would then go on to Hong Kong and Macau, which are both Chinese territories. But relations have improved vastly after the Kuomintang took power this year.

Instead of "Chinese Taipei", the Chinese media previously addressed the Taiwanese team as "China Taipei"  - which strongly suggested that Taiwan is part of China. Now, they have switched to Chinese Taipei as a sign of goodwill.

Still, some are upset that Beijing is changing the sequence of appearance at the opening ceremony. Teams will march in according to their Chinese names, so that places the Taiwanese team almost next to the Hong Kong contingent.

There were also incidents of Taiwanese athletes and supporters getting into a brawl with their Chinese counterparts in other sporting events after the latter tried to snatch or stop them from displaying the ROC flag.