"Hey cool! Laos is going to support our entry into the ASEAN regional forum."
"But...but...I don't even know where Laos is?"
"Somewhere near Vietnam...one of the few countries that our present President used to visit prior to September 11. After that momentous date he started getting invitations from the US and Europe."
"But I don't understand where Laos came from?"
"That's where your Prime Minister is at present."
"Why?"
"Well apparently they have no stipulations about facial hair...I mean whereas the Americans and the Europeans are increasingly hesitant to allow anyone with facial hair entry into their countries."
"For fear that only terrorists sport facial hair?"
"Right."
"Thought it only applied to a beard."
"Yeah but Jamali has both a beard and a moustache right. And if you add the element of the rather large circumference of the dress that our luxuriously moustached Jamali likes to wear."
"Hey, that's our national dress."
"Right, but we have to be aware of what others think of him in our national dress."
"OK. Granted - but it shows opulence as well...I mean the bigger the girth the better the food and the more wealth...besides I always wondered whether he feeds the moustache too?"
"Feeds the moustache?"
"Well you know in our country many women use oil in their hair to get that shine and bounce so I was wondering if Jamali uses something for his moustache."
"What difference does it make to us?"
"Well, he can package it and sell it. I mean considering that we are a nation of traders, give us anything, textiles, hair growth formulas, nuclear reactors."
"You will get yourself in a jam one of these days."
"I heard Jamali uses pure butter."
"Don't be facetious."
"Anyway of all the countries visited by our past leaders the present set of rulers have made great strides in giving the entire country a good geography lesson by making us aware of small nations, of countries that we had never heard of, and Laos is one of them."
"Cool, but then Laos is unlikely to be much help in giving us the assistance we need in entering the ASEAN regional forum."
"Ah well. You lose some and then you lose some more. But to be fair to Jamali it's a four nation tour including China."
"That makes all the difference between a junket and a successful trip."