Themba Maseko, the chief government spokesman, said that the welfare of the perpetrators had been given preference over that of the victims.
Then there was the episode last summer, he said, when a tour group caused a scene at a hotel in Cody, Wyo., after mistakenly thinking another busload of compatriots had been given preference at breakfast.
Under that system, ethnic Malays have been given preferences in land purchases, bank loans and university admissions.
In shallow waters, they seem to prefer regions with strong currents though no explanation has been given for this particular preference.
Preference has been given to single and pregnant women, he explained, while the men have had to seek shelter in the streets surrounding the church.
Noting that, in the past, preference for housing had been given to first-year law students, he said: "We have been desperately short of housing, and that has impacted two major populations: transfer students and graduate students, more than 90percentt of whom are from abroad.
Preference share owners had been given the tradeable shares, which came with a hefty haircut, as part of a cash injection worth billions of euros into the bank that wreaked most damage on Spain's financial system after suffering huge losses on toxic loans to real estate developers.
But his administration has since trumpeted an initiative to encourage non-violent drug offenders to seek clemency, one in which inmates who would likely receive more lenient sentences today have been given special preference. .
The influential critic Olin Downes had opposed Barbirolli's appointment from the outset, insisting that, though "we abhor chauvinism", preference should have been given to "native conductors".
