Kam Raslan’s Talking Edge

(Reprinted from The Edge – Options pullout, 12 October 2015 issue)

Dear Kam,
What? Malaysia has signed up for the TPPA? That was a surprise.
Dazed in the Haze

I’m an optimist and I try to believe that every problem is just an opportunity in disguise. So, with the sudden signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), I think that this is a really good opportunity to tell Malaysians what is actually in the TPPA. After all, it kind of involves us all, so it would be nice to know what it’s all about. Or perhaps we are expected to treat it like we’re downloading a new app and just press “Agree” without reading the terms and conditions?

Like most people, I wasn’t expecting to see the news that Malaysia had joined 11 other Pacific Rim countries (including the US) in signing a trade agreement that will involve 40% of the global economy. The news came as a complete surprise. I’m not against trade agreements, especially if they can help us to sweep away our bad practices, but I don’t like the secretive nature of these negotiations. What’s in this deal? I’m not a knee-jerk anti-American but the US has been the principal force behind the TPPA and it is very good at getting a deal that is good for itself. The agreement will still have to be ratified by our Parliament so, yeah, it’s a done deal.

But let’s try to find the opportunities. Big US legal firms will be able to set up shop in Malaysia, which means that our lawyers will no longer need to send legal letters to America demanding to be told how to win a case. And now that we’ve done what the US wants, it must surely reward us by making it easier to travel to and perhaps even live in America. Which might please some Malaysians.

Dear Kam,
My question is simple: the ringgit? I mean, er, what?
Crash & Burn

In recent weeks, the ringgit dropped to its lowest level against the US dollar in 17 years. I don’t know much about economics but I’m assuming that this is a good thing. I mean, we’ve clearly worked very hard to achieve this milestone. (At the time of writing, the local currency strengthened significantly against the greenback.)

I’ve been trying to find the opportunities and I think I’ve found a way for me to cash in: exports. The weak ringgit is good for exports, so long as my manufacturing doesn’t need any foreign components bought in USD. But even exports are being hurt with a lowering of demand in China. But I’ve found a product that is always in demand. I’m going to grab the opportunity of a weak ringgit and I’m going to harvest my internal organs. If the ringgit drops any lower, then I won’t need them anyway.

Dear Kam,
Just when the haze starts easing it gets really bad again. When will it end?
Smoky Robinson

I’ve become addicted to a website because of the haze, earth.nullschool.net. Using NASA satellite imaging, it shows the world’s wind and wave patterns, temperature, relative humidity and, well, everything. It also shows sources of carbon monoxide, in other words, Indonesian forest fires, which show as a huge dark purple spot. The website measures CO levels as ppbv (parts per billion by volume). I don’t think we need to know exactly what that means but for KL at its worst, the air quality has been well over 600ppbv, while in the heart of the Sumatran fires, it has measured 5,000ppbv. It looks like the gateway to hell. When the wind is blowing unfavourably for them (but favourably for Malaysia), smoke from fires in Kalimantan blows to Sumatra, adding to the misery. It’s hard to imagine why the Indonesian authorities allow this to happen to its citizens every year, but perhaps it’s just the price of progress.

But it has been really surprising to discover just how disgustingly bad the air quality is in the whole of China, easily the worst in the whole world. The air over Beijing measures nearly 3,000ppbv every day, and this cloud then stretches across the entire country with another vile purple spot being generated over Chongqing. China’s economy has made great leaps forward in the last decade but at what cost? If anybody wants to know, the consistently cleanest air appears to be in New Zealand (56ppbv).

Reprinted with the kind permission of