Malayan Spy

Malayan Spy by Kam Raslan takes us to the year 1953 where the Cold War looms, and the world is on the cusp of both Independence and adulthood. The story travels through England, Berlin, and Malaya, following a young Malayan student caught in a tangle of loyalties and choices.

In London, 1952, a young man named Hamid finds himself adrift, uncertain of his studies, his identity, and the future of Malaya, which is not yet an independent country. He longs for a sense of belonging—is it with his Sultan, an imaginative new nation, or the British Empire? Hamid believes that the solution lies in finding a wife.

Amidst the Great Smog of London, Hamid encounters Tom Pelham, an old friend from Malaya and the son of a former British Resident. Tom invites Hamid to spend Christmas at his family estate. Eagerly anticipating a reunion with his childhood crush, Clare Pelham, Hamid arrives only to find Clare's two competitive friends, Hermione and Margaret. To them, Hamid seems as exotic as they appear to him. In the midst of these entangled relationships, Hamid commits a mistake, loses Clare's trust, and is expelled from the house. However, hope remains when Tom offers him a chance at redemption and a path back to Clare—by spying for England.

The narrative shifts to Cold War Berlin, 1953, against the backdrop of rising tensions. Hamid's mission is to seduce an East German communist student leader. He is left stranded in East Berlin as it is sealed during a violent uprising, a historical event largely forgotten outside Germany today. Amidst the chaos, Hamid must escape from Soviet tanks and rely on the uncertain loyalties of a Soviet Colonel and the shrewdness of his mistress, who remains loyal only to herself. Hamid faces the ultimate challenge to cross the final bridge, seeking safety, adulthood, and a sense of belonging, whether to a person or a cause.