Kam Raslan’s Talking Edge

(Reprinted from The Edge – Options pullout, 2 March 2015 issue)

Dear Kam,
Happy Chinese New Year! My question is, is it the Year of the Sheep or Goat?
The Ram

The Year of the Horse was a difficult and sometimes exhilarating year for the people of Hong Kong when thousands took to the streets demanding universal suffrage. It seems, for now, that the Occupy demonstrations have failed in their quest for greater democracy because neither Beijing nor Hong Kong Chief Executive C Y Leung are willing to concede. Leung was quoted as saying that free elections are unacceptable because that would give the poorer half of the population a voice in politics. And that, apparently, is a bad thing.

But now, it is the Year of the Sheep, and Leung gave a Chinese New Year message that all authoritarian leaders would love to give. He spoke very warmly about the characteristics of the sheep: “Sheep are widely seen to be mild and gentle animals living peacefully in groups.” He didn’t add that they are also very tasty when roasted with rosemary, but he did say, “In the coming year, I hope that all people in Hong Kong will take inspiration from the sheep’s character and pull together in an accommodating manner to work for Hong Kong’s future.” It is possible that something was lost in translation, but these words are from the official translation. He wants the people of Hong Kong to be like sheep. Mindless, docile and easily herded. It’s hard to imagine that any democratically elected leader would ever dare suggest such a thing, but it must be what all leaders would secretly wish for. Please, just be like sheep, don’t ask any questions and let us carry on doing whatever it is we want to do.

As I understand it, sheep can be translated as goats or rams. Goats and rams are stubborn creatures that will fight to defend themselves. Will the coming year see electorates being sheep, goats or rams?

Dear Kam,
Sometimes when I look at political leaders, I wonder, why did you want to become a political leader?
Mr Politician-Not

Why do people, mostly men, want to become leaders? Why do they want to become presidents or prime ministers?

I was reading about the young Winston Churchill and was surprised to see just how ambitious he was. Even in his early twenties, he kept telling anybody he met that he would become prime minister of Britain, and lots of them agreed. There were obvious psychological reasons why he might wish to become PM. His father had been a famous politician and many assumed that he would become PM, but he went mad and died young from syphilis. So, there was unfinished family ambition, and also Churchill Sr thought Churchill Jr was a bit dim and a huge disappointment and he took every opportunity to let him know (a lot like Bush Sr and Bush Jr). So, there might have been psychological reasons why Winston Churchill would want to become PM. But Churchill never said what he wanted to do as PM. He had no particular political platform. He just wanted to be a leader for the sake of it.

Meanwhile, at the same time that a young Churchill was telling the world that for some strange reason he wanted to be PM, a young Indian lawyer was making a name for himself in South Africa and India as a leader, but a very different kind of leader. Mohandas K Gandhi had a very clear and specific political agenda — to gain independence for Indians and India. And he wanted to achieve this through the tactic of non-violence. Gandhi had a political plan, Churchill did not.

Churchill did become PM but only because of a war. He was perfect as a wartime leader because he had the most amazing rhetorical skills and because the agenda was very simple: for the nation to survive and emerge victorious. Not much domestic political thought was required, which was a good thing because the only working-class people he knew were servants. As soon as they had the chance, the British electorate voted him out so that the nation could concentrate on boring domestic issues like universal healthcare, education and housing.

Gandhi was assassinated shortly after Indian independence and Churchill lived to a ripe old age. Both are revered but Gandhi was the more successful politician. He had a political vision, he had a reason to become a leader. Britain was fortunate to have Churchill in its hour of need, but he would only ever have become PM because of a world war. The British voters and his own party would never have chosen him otherwise because he had absolutely no interest in domestic politics.

So, why do people want to become leaders? Some seem to want to just because. Because of psychological and often family ambitions, but they don’t know what to do once they have achieved office. And some because they actually want to achieve something for their community.

I admire both Gandhi and Churchill, mostly because of what they left behind. Gandhi’s possessions were auctioned recently and they mounted to little more than a pair of spectacles and a writing desk. Churchill was an aristocrat with a long family lineage but he was not a particularly wealthy man when he died. All his money he had earned himself through the many books he had written. Neither of them were in it for the money.

Dear Kam,
I have a brilliant business idea (I’m not going to tell you what it is because you might steal it, but I will tell you that it involves me owning a Ferrari). Unfortunately, I’m having trouble raising money. Do you have any ideas how I can raise some money?
Ideas.com

At Kickstarter.com, you can submit a proposal for a creative project (the arts, design, film, technology and so on) and see if anybody in Internetland wants to fund it. Previously, successful applicants have been a theft-resistant bicycle light (raised US$87,728), a journalism project about the people of Gaza (US$8,471), a video game called “Unexploded Cow” (US$48,546) and 79,000 others with US$1,551,681,164 pledged.

I really like Kickstarter.com and I’ve always wanted to submit a proposal, but I could never think of anything, until now. I want to raise US$330 to get a haircut. Do you know how expensive it is to get a haircut these days?

Reprinted with the kind permission of