In September 1981, Malaysian investors launched a surprise stock market ambush in London, seizing back control of Guthrie, a British plantation giant that had long symbolised colonial power. It was one of the boldest financial plays in Malaysian history, executed before breakfast and celebrated as an act of national pride. Azizan Paiman turns one of Malaysia’s proudest economic coups into a comic-book circus. Dawn Raid Operation, London 1981 becomes a surreal stage of airborne “heroes” launched like cannonballs across the canvas. Figures swoop and collide in manic energy, charging through a delirious battlefield of flags, bodies, and bluster. As always, Paiman’s satire cuts close to the bone. Beneath the swagger of national victory, he hints at greed, politics, and the absurd theatre of power. By rendering the event as circus, he exposes how politics, spectacle, and bureaucracy blur into each other. His installation Menjejaki Kembali Kesah-Kesah Ekonomi Negara (2018) was famously censored for its depictions of government figures, prompting him to tape “Sulit” (“Secret”) labels over the work in protest. Here, too, the laughter is barbed. History, for Paiman, is never sacred; it’s a stage where power plays out in costume and satire keeps score.