Kuala Lampur, Sept. 15 -- There is the official group: Family, office, old classmates who still pretend the Form 5 reunion is happening. Everyone is in it. Birthdays get a sticker. Political links get communally ridiculed. Lunch photos are shared. Blah blah blah.

Then there is the other group which consists of the same people - minus one. Sometimes minus two.

Given a name so bland it could pass as a logistics chat, and immediately put to its real use: Talking about the person who is not there.

If this sounds familiar, congratulations. You have either built one of these groups, sat inside one, or - the more interesting fate - you are the missing name.

The unofficial supplement WhatsApp facilitates and certainly did not invent: Gossip. ...