It will be necessary to look to their future behaviour to see if they were truly "remorseful of our conduct that day" or if they were just going through well-rehearsed motions after being coached on the best way to avoid jail.

Given the track record of similar stunts around the globe clocked up by these men of wealthy and privileged backgrounds, the latter seems a real possibility.

An excellent way to dispel this concern would be for the group members to publicly thank the Malaysian Government for its professional and balanced handling of the affair.

The fact the charges have been dropped, and they are now beyond the reach of the government that gave them a short, sharp, lesson in courtesy and consequences, would give such a statement far more weight than the traditional displays of remorse trotted out in court by defendants since time immemorial.

Malaysia's judiciary has shown commendable justice and restraint in its handling of what was, at once, a seemingly trivial but also complex matter with ramifications that could have impacted on diplomatic interests, international tourism and trade.

Given the Malaysian authorities would never have tolerated such conduct from a group of their own youth they had no choice but to act in this instance. It is important to remember these acts were being judged by the standards Malaysians find appropriate, not what might be shrugged off in Australia.

If rich and entitled individuals from a foreign country went to a major Australian sporting event, such as the Melbourne Cup, and misbehaved in this way it would not be shrugged off.

The Sepang Magistrates Court, which most certainly has better things to do than performing attitude adjustments on foreign visitors, resisted any pressures to make examples of the self-styled centres of attention, however.

This even extended to the small, but very significant, point of not recording convictions against their names.

If that had happened, given the restrictions many countries place on the entry of convicted felons, their opportunities for re-offending outside Australia could have been very slim.

The court of public opinion has not been as lenient, with many commentators and critics focusing on the wealthy backgrounds, complete with private school educations and international travel from an early age, that the nine apparently share.

This cannot, and should not, be dismissed as just a trendy form of reverse profiling.

Somewhere along the way our society has lost sight of the once widely held view that much is expected from those to whom much has been given.

The Budgie Nine would do well to keep that in mind next time they find themselves abroad.