COMMENT | GE15 hustings fertile ground for comedy

COMMENT | Baby boomers may remember Atan and Atuk, Muniappan and Lee Siew Lan.

They were characters that the late Jamali Shadat brought to life during the more placid days of black-and-white Bakat TV. We were then recovering, two years after the darkest period in Malaysian history.

Jamali’s skits were as benign as his quirky observations, and accented monologues were as revealing. A gifted comic of his time, Jamali bridged the racial rifts with a good-natured wit.

He neither punched up nor down. Just straight impressions that cut right through politics, culture and language.

(Dewan Bahasa Pustaka chairperson Awang Sariyan might find Jamali’s bahasa pasar disrespectful. Awang’s move to amend the DBP Act to “spark love for the...