At an exhibition held at Balai Seni Lukis (Balai, National Art Gallery), organised by the Malaysia-British Association, Nirmala Dutt Shanmughalingam’s ‘Friends In Need’ (1986) was taken down. Balai however reinstated the work. ‘Friends in Need’ is a critique of Western imperialism with Thatcher and Reagan depicted in the form of traditional wayang kulit villains.