Kam Raslan’s Talking Edge

(Reprinted from The Edge – Options pullout, 15 June 2015 issue)

Dear Kam,
The earthquake in Sabah killed 18 people. Somebody must be blamed.
The Rock

A deadly earthquake in Sabah. Nearly 20 lives lost. I thought that didn’t happen in Malaysia. The guides on Mount Kinabalu have been deservedly praised for performing heroically in carrying down survivors. One guide died and another carried on his back a badly injured Singaporean boy. Once again, individual Malaysians have proved their mettle. The emergency services did not receive much praise. At one point, a helicopter briefly hovered over the mountaintop and threw out some supplies that promptly slid uselessly away. Perhaps there were good reasons for an uninspiring display by rescue services and I don’t want to bash them. I did read that the available helicopters are not designed to fly as high as the top of Mount Kinabalu. That might be so, and yet Mount Kinabalu has been there for a very long time, it didn’t suddenly appear last year. It has always been there and presumably there is always the possibility of accidents on Mount Kinabalu. It seems odd that the correct equipment and trained personnel are not available at all times. It’s as if you’re on your own if you ever find yourself in an accident in Malaysia. You have to hope you can wave down a passing taxi, even on the slopes of Mount Kinabalu. Fortunately, the mountain guides were there. Otherwise, the loss of life could have been far greater. The one piece of good news is that the deadly earthquake in Sabah did not interfere with the prime minister’s travel plans. Thank goodness.

But just a few days before the earthquake, some tourists stripped themselves naked at the top of Mount Kinabalu. Some people have said that this was an act of desecration that caused the earthquake. This situation highlights a culture clash, not just between East and West but also within Malaysian society.

First of all, what the Canadian, British and Dutch tourists did was truly ridiculous. I cannot imagine what they thought they were achieving. They’ve just climbed Mount Kinabalu, so they celebrate by taking off all their clothes. I just don’t get it. Do they celebrate renewing their road tax by taking off all their clothes? Although I would like to see them try that in Malaysia. But to think that the tourists actually caused the earthquake is pure superstition. Earthquakes don’t usually happen in Malaysia but earthquakes are a natural phenomenon and we will look really foolish if we blame one on tourists. And yet Mount Kinabalu is a “sacred mountain” for some Sabahans, so for them it is not superstition. I did not know this, so I never stopped to think about it before, and I doubt the tourists were told this before they stripped off, but I also doubt if it would have made any difference. If a Malaysian community’s deepest precepts have been offended, then we should take note (as these tourists would probably do in their own countries). It may be superstition to me but it’s holy to somebody else and I respect that. If the tourists are asked to pay for some buffaloes as a fine, then that seems about right to me.

Generally speaking, Malaysians are comfortable with the multicultural nature of Malaysia (well, apart from the Road Transport Department). We are comfortable with religion and superstition co-existing within communities and even individuals. Most Malaysians would be instinctively satisfied if a fine of buying a buffalo was handed down by some kind of native court (if such a thing exists). The federal or state government would look utterly ridiculous if they were to make these tourists scapegoats for an earthquake. What the tourists did was utterly bizarre, but it did not cause an earthquake. It had nothing to do with the earthquake. It caused no harm and personally, I didn’t take any offence. But if it was genuinely offensive to somebody, then let the recompense be legitimate and measured. Let’s not grab this opportunity to look ridiculous. Mount Kinabalu needs to heal quickly because the livelihood of the mountain guides is at stake.

Dear Kam,
The PM was supposed to attend a forum in PWTC but then I saw Dr M speaking instead and I thought, what year is this?
Dejavu

The earthquake in Sabah very suddenly took attention away from the PM’s no-show at a forum called “Nothing2Hide”. The PM was supposed to explain the 1MDB situation but then a previous PM turned up, and the whole event got called off by the police and the present PM went somewhere else instead. Obviously, the police do not make political interventions because, well, that’s just not what they do. Apparently, the police believed the situation in PWTC was not safe for the PM. The forum was taking place in PWTC, the home of Umno, where each night, there is a gigantic neon display of the PM.

Dear Kam,
A woman was told to wear a sarong when visiting the Road Transport Department (JPJ). Er, what?
Skirting the Issue

It’s all over social media. A middle-aged woman went to the JPJ to do some time-consuming but banal car stuff. But then she was told to where a sarong to cover up her legs or she would not be served. She posted her story (some time ago) on Facebook and this week, social media exploded. It’s not like she was naked, she was dressed perfectly decently. And yet the JPJ thought it right to tell her to cover up.

What’s next? Do you have to convert to get a new road tax? Prove you’re circumcised to transfer car ownership? JPJ is just an office, it’s not Masjid Negara, or the top of Mount Kinabalu.

To be fair, the JPJ did offer an apology but it also issued a dress code guideline, which is strict. I don’t think a woman wearing a sari with a bare midriff would be allowed in. And allowed in to do what anyway? To pay a parking fine, not enter the kingdom of heaven. It used to be that the only dress code was no motorcycle helmets but now we have to dress as if going to a kenduri. Honestly, men wear less on their Haj than is permissible at the JPJ in Kuala Lumpur in 2015. This ever-encroaching conservatism is very disappointing. It’s as if nobody is in charge and everyone is free to just make things up.

Reprinted with the kind permission of