I think many people would agree with the sentiments you expressed about the rakyat’s desire for more civilised discourse. And various members on both BN and Pakatan sides will definitely give in to their baser values to play to the crowd.

My two sen on this:

1. This issue is getting played up by NST and experience has taught me to take any issue blown up by the NST with liberal doses of salt, and vice versa. If we really want to find out what happened, best thing is to read the Hansard.

2. I like what MP Po Kuan posted in her blog about how the circus in parliament could be have been avoided. Basically, it’s all about respect. The Speaker and BN must treat Pakatan with respect, and vice versa, or else everything else becomes tit-for-tat and reactionary. On a similar note, I think BN has to earn the rakyat’s respect after squandering away public goodwill, while Pakatan has to make sure it keeps respect.

Read MP Po Kuan’s post here: http://pokuan.blogsome.com/2008/05/05/circus-in-parliament-avoidable-if-only/

IMHO, it’s a good analysis, plus she uses the Hansard to back her points.

On a totally none-related point, I am having a good giggle at the auto-generated google adds on the sidebar for this post as it all has to do with squirrels and monkeys. I didn’t know there was such a thing as squirrel nut zippers and squirrel monkeys :D