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SCMP Reporter

London
There they sat in the BMW, a couple tapping away on their laptops, wires brimming from their car parked outside Wimbledon library in southwest London.
Nothing wrong there, perhaps, but it was enough to trigger unease in one passer-by. Police were called. Officers thought they were skimming ATM cards, but Steven Lee and Rong Yang explained they were surfing Chinese television.
A companion, Ka Hung Pang, sat in the back, nodding.
Police were about to leave when a fourth Chinese person arrived, Kingston  Crown Court heard. Even though neither spoke nor read English, Ka, 52, and En Zhuang, 38, had just taken  the Life in the UK Test.  The 45-minute Home Office exam was designed to test would-be British citizens' knowledge of cultural, political and social life in Britain.
But Ka and En were wearing hidden earpieces and tiny buttonhole cameras, and Lee and girlfriend Rong were not watching TV but using a spycam to drip-feed the multiple-choice answers. In their pockets, the court heard, was #1,000 (HK$11,500) in cash: their fee for the scam.
Lee and Rong were jailed for eight months for breaching immigration law, while the  applicants will each be tested by 180 hours of community service for deception.
Police claimed Lee and Rong must have netted hundreds of thousands of pounds in the hi-tech scam, as suggested by their #600,000 Redhill home  in wealthy Surrey.
Authorities now fear the scam is widespread. 'We believe we have uncovered an established criminal enterprise that may be in operation around the country,' Sergeant Dominic Washington told London's Evening Standard, which asked how many others had hoodwinked the Home Office.
The test was introduced in April last year  and was designed to prove that migrants can integrate into British society by demonstrating knowledge of life here. The 24-question exam had a 75 per cent pass rate.  Questions included: 'What are MPs?'
The test was aimed not just at assuaging indigenous fears of being 'swamped' by non-English-speaking foreigners, but also a government attempt to instil a greater sense of Britishness in the 'British'. Hence mooted plans for a 'British' motto and national holiday.
But how do you define 'Britishness'? It's a  tricky task considering the nation's two favourite dishes are chicken tikka masala  and sweet and sour pork, and being British has been diluted by devolution between the Scots, Irish, Welsh and  English.
When the Blair government strove for a five-word motto last year - a quest for a snazzy phrase similar to France's liberte, egalite, fraternite - to sum up Britishness, The Times ran a fun tandem discussion. Offerings ranged from eloquent 'Dipso, Fatso, Bingo, Asbo, Tesco', to 'We apologise for the inconvenience' and 'Sorry, is this the queue'.
Times readers' favourite was 'No motto please, we're British', with columnists noting that nothing could be less British than  seeking to define and promote Britishness. Self-promotion, they said, was American.
A quick delve into essays and polls on classical facets of Britishness raises hope for Rong, Lee, Ka and En. They include open-mindedness, creativity, forgiveness, curiosity and fairness.
The scam was marked high on creativity, with praise for innovation. All four would have benefited from forgiveness, too. That is if they had not irked the deep-rooted sense of fair play. Cheating is a real no-no,  especially if you get caught. Being caught cheating in a test is as bad as being spotted jumping the queue. Well, almost.
Tomorrow: Sydney



No cheating please, we're British  ... whatever that means