FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — At the weekend a court in Ho Chi Minh City fined a mischievous drunk for causing public disorder while under the influence of alcohol. Pham Van Binh, a 43-year-old cycle-rickshaw puller, had climbed the bronze statue of General Tran Nguyen Han, a 15th-century warrior who fought Chinese occupation (pictured to the right).

He had waved at the crowd and sat on the General’s hand, stretching his criminal performance to a good 15 minutes, while as police tried their best to coax him down. They even laid out an air-mattress, in case he fell. He jumped, eventually.

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