Kam Raslan’s Talking Edge

(Reprinted from The Edge – Options pullout, 13 June 2016 issue)

Dear Kam,
Is it my imagination or have T-shirts become dangerous in Malaysia?
Manny Quinn

I’m overseas as I write this. Travelling by plane in the olden days was better for one reason only. I never can sleep on flights and back then, the plane didn’t offer dozens of movies to help me while away the hours, so I’m glad for that. But they did offer free local newspapers as you boarded the plane and it was always a real pleasure to not take one and know that I was about to be free from the ridiculous lies and tragedies of Malaysian politics, if only for a few days. I don’t have that thrill anymore. Nowadays, when I board the plane and I see the pile of newspapers, I am always surprised to discover that they still exist — does anybody read them these days? — but I know that because of the internet, Malaysian news can and will follow me to anywhere in the world, even to the remotest of corners like rural England, which is where I am right now.

The night before I left for England a friend of mine was arrested in KL for sedition. He and two others have since been released and I don’t think they’ve been charged, yet. My friend’s “crime” revolved around the selling of a T-shirt. In Malaysia now, we find ourselves in the truly bizarre situation where T-shirts, balloons, cartoons and even a vegetable are considered dangerous. I’m sure I’m not the only Malaysian who feels a sense of freedom when travelling. It’s a freedom from the petty-minded and easily offended mindset that governs our lives. I love my country and think about it constantly but, well, it’s good to take a break.

Dear Kam,
First I was scared of the Zika virus but now, I’m supposed to be worried about Brexit. What is Brexit, is it contagious and can I catch it from sitting on a toilet?
Desperately Seeking Answers

Britain at the moment is animated by the question of “Brexit”. Any day now there will be a vote on whether Britain should stay in or leave the European Union. Polls are suggesting they might well vote to leave. The only thing that could stop them is Donald Trump who will be visiting Britain the day before the vote for very important foreign affairs reasons (he’s opening a golf course). Trump is widely expected to tell the British to leave the EU (and use the word “tremendous” a lot), which will probably persuade the British to do the opposite.

The few British people I’ve spoken to since arriving all want to leave the EU and for one reason only. Immigration. They complain that too many foreigners are coming over here and stealing jobs and changing the British way of life. The funny thing is I’ve met many Malaysians living in Britain or even just visiting the country who complain about the exact same thing. When I point out that they too are foreigners, they’ll say it’s different for them and mumble stuff about the Commonwealth or, you know, whatever.

The British are complaining about foreigners but they’re not worried about Malaysians, although they probably should be. Property in and around London is incredibly expensive. It’s getting so expensive that many actual young Londoners might never be able to own a place in their own city, and Malaysians are playing their part to make this happen. I can’t remember the figures but before the last general election in Malaysia, there was a burst of buying activity by Malaysians in central London. And the buying continues.

These rich and newly rich Malaysians are mostly invisible on the streets of London despite the social effect of their property buying and they escape the anger of average Britons. Instead, British voters are focusing their attention on the more visible and much poorer migrants from countries as far away as Poland, Rumania and Afghanistan. When I visited Britain about 10 years ago I was struck by the sudden appearance of Polish shops selling Polish things to Polish people on the high streets of provincial England.

There were lots of Polish people working in construction and agriculture, washing cars (offering “Polish polish”) and even working in retail. Despite the fact that they were mostly working in jobs that British people didn’t want to do (like in agriculture) and were causing no social problems, I could see that average British people were really unhappy about their visible presence. Just the sight of these foreigners was upsetting but for no particular reason. Ten years later and there are still lots of Polish people working in Britain and yet the British don’t seem to dislike them so much anymore. Instead it’s whoever happens to be the newest arrivals.

There are quite visibly recent migrants on the streets of England, at least in the south where I am. They stand out because they look different but as far as I can see, there aren’t really that many of them and they’ve made no noticeable impact on the British way of life. Some of the most aggressive anti-foreigner (and anti-EU) sentiments come from areas that have practically no foreigners. It’s not a fear of their actual arrival but of their potential arrival. It’s a fear of what might happen, not what has happened. And it’s a fear of the outside coming inside.

There are so many foreigners in Malaysia working in industries that wouldn’t exist if they weren’t doing those jobs. And all Malaysians were once foreigners. (Indonesia is a foreign country, isn’t it?) Although I am not happy if they are used as a voting tool I get the feeling that if Malaysians have largely surrendered over the issue of migrants, at least it’s not as significant an election issue as it is in Britain.

But Malaysians suffer from the fear of the outside. Not a fear of poor migrants who seem uncivilised compared to our enlightened ways but a fear of what’s out there. We, in our own way seem to want to take a step backwards and I almost fully expect to return to a Malaysia that has taken a significant step towards dismantling our legal system in favour of a religious answer to all our problems.

Reprinted with the kind permission of