Kam Raslan’s Talking Edge

(Reprinted from The Edge – Options pullout, 14 December 2015 issue)

Dear Kam,
The National Security Council bill. My question is simple. Er, what?
Big Brother

A week ago, I hadn’t even heard of the National Security Council bill, but then it was rushed through Parliament on the last night of the sitting. One politician said we’d all be thankful for the proposed law if a bomb were to go off on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, which sounds ominous. It’s a new low for Malaysia. The lowest low yet, one that I never imagined we could reach. And yet here we are. Where do we go from here?

Dear Kam,
Watching the rise of Donald Trump, I keep hearing the word “demagogue”. What does it mean?
Huge Grant

Around the world, people are using the real or imagined threat of Islamic State to pursue their own agendas. Donald Trump’s bid to be the next presidential candidate for the Republican Party is based on fear-mongering, and his latest missive (after the awful massacre in San Bernadino) is that there should be a complete stop to the entry of Muslims into America. It is difficult to understand why people in, say, rural Iowa should be so terrified of Muslims or why they think that a real estate tycoon should be their saviour but, as a reporter at The Guardian noted, “Attend one of his rallies and it begins to make sense: make them laugh, then draw them into your world where danger lurks around every corner and you’re the only one smart enough to stop it.” Trump constantly proclaims his own intelligence just as some leaders laud their “wisdom”.

While nobody is suggesting that Trump has embezzled billions and that his presidential bid is a desperate attempt to keep himself out of jail, he is using fear, prejudice and ignorance to promote himself. He is the perfect definition of a demagogue, and it appears to be working for him because he is riding high in the opinion polls.

An essential part of populist demagoguery is to lie without shame. In Trump’s case, he has quoted bogus “facts” to tell lies about Mexicans, black people, Muslims, the press and many more. And when questioned on his lies, his response has been, “But. I. Don’t. Care.” The demagogue’s relationship with the media is filled with irony because although they enjoy using the media to spread their message they don’t enjoy hearing any negative response. Trump loves Twitter but he wants to talk to Bill Gates about “closing that internet up in some way. Somebody will say ‘Oh, freedom of speech, freedom of speech’. These are foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people.” If he were to succeed, then a lot of leaders around the world would be very happy.

Fortunately, Trump will probably never become the US president. It’s safe to say that he has lost the Hispanic, black, Muslim and women’s vote. But can you imagine what he would be like if he were a leader? But he does like to play golf.

Dear Kam,
I’m very forgetful and I keep losing things. Is there a technique I can use to make sure I lose things?
Forget Me Not

It is possible to lose money. I had a very happy day once when I found RM50 in the pocket of a jacket I hadn’t worn for a long time. I have also found some money that had fallen down the back of the sofa. You can be careless or forgetful and misplace money. But I’ve never lost a jumbo jet. Who loses a jumbo jet? Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd has put out an advertisement in The Star newspaper asking for the owner of three jumbo jets to come and reclaim them. Somewhere there is a reader of The Star saying, “That’s where I left them.” A simple technique to ensure that this never happens to you is to always put the keys to your jumbo jet on a key rack.

Reprinted with the kind permission of