Kam Raslan’s Talking Edge

(Reprinted from The Edge – Options pullout, 28 September 2015 issue)

Dear Kam,
A dancer is facing charges for dropping balloons at an event in a public space that was attended by a VIP. Did I read that right? I mean, er, you know, balloons?
Helium Chow

It’s like I’ve always said, balloons are dangerous and should be banned. If people had only listened to me then we wouldn’t be facing this kind of threat to our parliamentary democracy. Anybody who knows their South American history will remember the time Che Guevara emerged from the jungles of Ecuador with his band of revolutionaries called Los Del Rio armed only with balloons in the shapes of swords, dogs and a sort of hat that could be a tiara. Prosecuting Balloonistas is a sign of confidence and strength, and is in no way the opposite of that.

Dear Kam,
There’s a lot of talk about an increasing level of racial tension in Malaysia. I see events on the news, and yet I don’t come across anything in my life. Is there a Malaysia that happens on the news, and another one that happens in reality?
Hazy Days

I just went to a cemetery to visit long deceased family. It’s a big old cemetery in the heart of Kuala Lumpur overlooked by the Twin Towers, structures that match the twin headstones on the graves. Many of the names on the graves in this Muslim cemetery indicate Chinese, European and Indian backgrounds, as well as being sometimes indecipherably exotic, like Saloma. I like cemeteries, especially this one that is surrounded by the tall buildings and highways of an ever-growing city. The cemetery and its residents slumber as the city lives its future, and its past. We don’t usually think of Kuala Lumpur as being a city that either has or thinks about its past but in this cemetery, the past and the realities of the present are clear, with the people who are buried, the family members visiting, and most especially the names that have travelled such long journeys and married other far-travelled names before finally resting here. It all speaks of shared journeys, fluidity, respect and easy coexistence. If this city did not have these elements, then this cemetery and these names could not exist. The names suggest that respect and mutual understanding is in the blood. That’s the norm and the reality. The public insults are a new thing.

Dear Kam,
There have been a lot of different protests going on recently. Do we need any more?
Colourful Malaysia

Perhaps the question should be not whether or not we need any more protests, but if we can have any more. With all our different political parties and different protest movements, I am becoming concerned that we’re running out of colours. How many colours are there in a rainbow? We can still perhaps have a magenta or mauve rally, but those colours don’t really grip the imagination. To be effective, the next movements will have to start using stripes and patterns. So if you are planning a protest with stripes, just remember that if your followers are almost all irate middle-aged males (like a recent protest) then please choose vertical stripes because that looks very slimming.

Reprinted with the kind permission of