Kam Raslan’s Talking Edge

(Reprinted from The Edge – Options pullout, 28 April 2014 issue)

The news of Karpal Singh’s death came as a big shock. Yet another life has been claimed by our roads. I never knew him but I admired him immensely because of his unflinching tenacity in fighting for his beliefs. But I’m sure the news of his death came as a shock even for those who didn’t like him. Karpal Singh was simply a part of Malaysian life, and had been for as far back as most of us can remember. I for one simply assumed that Karpal Singh and several other political personalities would carry on forever. When death comes suddenly as it did for Karpal Singh, then it stops people in their tracks and makes us realise that something ended, and also begun.

Some of us have benefitted from Malaysia’s present system whilst most of us have just tried to keep our heads down, avoid trouble and hopefully do as best we can for ourselves and our families despite the hurdles. And then there have been some of us who stood up to the machine and who dared to rock the boat (a very good example of a very bad mixed metaphor). Many of us were raised to view these troublemakers not just with suspicion but as a lesson in how not to live our lives. Why are you making trouble? Do you want to end up like Karpal Singh? He got locked up, essentially abandoning his family, is that what you want?

As I say, I never knew him but I think that despite the hardships, his life can be judged as a success. He came from a humble background, built a successful law firm, raised a family and got them the education they deserved. His was a Malaysian success story — it’s what most of us want. But perhaps he managed to win for himself something a bit extra. I might be completely wrong but even though death came far too early, it’s possible that he could have had a contentment that most of us yearn for but few will achieve. Whatever he achieved he won though his own efforts and (as far as I know) he never backed down from a fight if it meant compromising his beliefs. How many of us can look ourselves in the eye and be certain that our achievements are our own, not won through the flattering of fools or by an accident of birth? And when death came, his passing was mourned by many who had once seen him as a troublemaker, a bad man, a menace to the delicate balance of the nation. I’m one of them. So despite what anyone says, I want to say, RIP Karpal Singh.

Dear Kam,
Hold the front page! The biggest news story in the world has just happened. Manchester United has sacked David Moyes!
Mad About Football

A lot of bad things have been happening in the world at the moment: the Korean ferry disaster, Ukraine, and MH370 still hasn’t been found. But suddenly something from the world of sport has knocked almost everything off the headlines. Manchester United sacked David Moyes. I’m not going to get all footbally but Manchester United is a big deal. It’s only a football club but it has more supporters than any other club in the world (even though many of them wouldn’t be able to find Manchester on a map), it’s probably worth more money than some small countries and it can afford to pay Wayne Rooney an eye-watering £300,000 per week. That’s RM1.65 million. Per week. If I had taken football more seriously when I was at school then I might be rich now. But I was always the second to last kid to be picked for the team, just before the one with the eye-patch and asthma.

David Moyes found himself in a situation that many politicians and business leaders would recognise. He took over the coaching of Manchester United from Sir Alex Ferguson, who was probably more successful in his job than anybody else has ever been at any job. During his 28 years in charge (which is the same as Josef Stalin was in charge of the Soviet Union) he won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League and two Champion’s League titles. How on earth do you follow that? Sir Alex personally chose David Moyes to be his successor and after less than one very dismal season, David Moyes has been sacked. And apparently, Sir Alex played a role in the decision.

Should David Moyes have been sacked? Should he have been given more time? Could anybody have succeeded in taking over a machine like Manchester United from a previous leader who had been so successful? David Moyes’ career at Preston North End and Everton had been good but not amazingly good. The question has been asked from the very beginning: did Alex Ferguson choose David Moyes because he wanted an unremarkable successor? Did Ferguson hope that Moyes would get Manchester United to merely tick over, to achieve some success but not so much that it would threaten to eclipse his legacy or his own lingering behind-the-scenes grip on ultimate power? After all, another successor was available, one who has won everything and had beaten Alex Ferguson on many occasions. He could have chosen Jose Mourinho, but he didn’t.

Mourinho seems to love the lime light, and is a charismatic but polarising personality. You either love him or hate him but he has an impressive track record. He would have demanded that Manchester United become his club, he would never have turned to Ferguson for advice and would probably have demanded that Ferguson truly retire and play with the horses that he so loves. It can be said with absolute certainty that given the resources of the Manchester United machine, Mourinho would have taken them to greater and yet greater success. But somebody didn’t seem to want him.

Can a successful leader be trusted to make the right choice for a successor? If you believe that you built the machine, would you want somebody else to come along and win even greater success? Isn’t it far too tempting to choose somebody unremarkable? That way the subsequent lack of success would always remind people of your glory days. Margaret Thatcher hand-picked her successor, the truly uncharismatic John Major, hoping that he would be her man forever. George W Bush was also a place-man, and in David Moyes’ last match in charge when he saw Manchester United comprehensively beaten by Everton (his old club), his body language reminded me of Bush as he oversaw the disastrous reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

These anointed successors were just given the chance to rise to the level of their own incompetence. Fortunately, this could never happen in Malaysia.

Reprinted with the kind permission of