Kerre Woodham: There's no fairness in poverty

I've been in Malaysia for the past few days, working at a conference. Well, to be strictly honest, it wasn't work as work is generally defined. The conference involved a bunch of hardworking, self-made gorgeous New Zealanders, lovely couples who are really a column in themselves, and took place at a luxury resort. So, work is perhaps a slightly misleading description.

I digress. One of the activities involved taking a trip on a 50-year-old steam train and I got talking to the owner/manager of the enterprise. He asked where I came from and when I said New Zealand, he asked if I would please tell everyone in New Zealand that Malaysia is a good place to visit, and although there are many Muslims in Malaysia it is a country of tolerance and harmony that welcomes visitors from abroad.

Indeed, he said, the country needed tourists to survive. Poverty, he said, would be a far greater cause for discontent and unrest than radical Muslims preaching nonsense. We are part of the Commonwealth, he said. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia - shouldn't a family stick together? So there we go - I promised I'd pass on his words, and I have.

As I flew home, the Malaysian media was full of stories of the dangerous air pollution that was affecting some parts of the country, and I felt terribly sorry for my poor man. The radical Muslims might be being rounded up in London and the forest burnings might be happening in Indonesia, but it's the mother of six who was the waitress on the North Borneo Express who's going to be affected.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY