Mahathir in Kota Baru -- Another View

[Bala Pillai]

http://www.malaysia-today.net/Raja_Petra/2006/08/it-is-glorious-to-be-rich.html

 

 

I had arrived in Kota Bharu a day earlier to look into the preparations for streaming live Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's address at Hotel Perdana. On the 28th, my wife and I drove to the Pengkalan Chepa airport to await Mahathir's arrival. I thought I would check out the crowd and take some action shots as well. There was some confusion as to whether Mahathir would arrive at 10.00am or 11.00am. Anyhow, since I had nothing to do anyway, I decided to go there early and plonk myself at the best location as I was sure there would be a lot of pushing and jostling, so getting the best angle for your shots is not always easy in a crowd of 1,000 or so.

Around an hour before Mahathir was due to touch down, a string of mafia-looking black limousines zoomed into the airport and parked right in front of the exit, blocking the entire airport. One guy who gave an appearance of being in-charge jumped out of the lead car with about half a dozen or so tough-looking chaps, who I thought at first were members of the SWAT team, trailing behind him. They were dressed in boots and jackets and seemed to be sort of in uniform.

I remarked to a chap standing beside me that they must be from the SWAT team or Bukit Aman or something like that. Not only their appearance but the manner in which they conducted themselves gave this impression. The chap did not agree with me. "These are not from the SWAT team," he corrected me. "These are kaki gedebeh (gangsters)." Being local he probably knew who is who.

They marched right up to Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad and the leader of the very menacing-looking bunch demanded that Mahathir be allowed into his car. Abdullah would not engage him and advised him to phone Mahathir himself to discuss the matter. Anyhow, said Abdullah, Mahathir's representative is around so why not discuss it with him.

There was a moment of chaos and even the local police chief who was present could not contain the situation. This chap was not taking 'no' for an answer. I asked Abdullah who this chap who seemed to have so much power that he can even ignore the police is. He is a rich man replied Abdullah in utter disgust.

Yes, being rich is glorious as the Chinese Premier once said. Being rich means you can get away with much in the Malay heartland. And that is why this rich Kelantanese wanted Mahathir in his car. He is rich, richer than Ibrahim Ali and Abdullah Ahmad combined, so only he is entitled to ferry Mahathir to the hotel. And when Mahathir chose to enter Ibrahim Ali's car instead, he went into a rage and sprayed the inside of the car with mace, hitting Ibrahim, Mahathir and scores of other people who were standing nearby.

I am glad that the New Economic Policy is a failure. I am glad that these types of rich Malays are a rarity. Imagine what Malaysia would be like if we had thousands of such people roaming the streets. No one would be safe. What they want they get. And if they don't get their way they would spray mace into your face in front of the local police chief or take out their gun and shoot into the air like what happened twice before during Umno Division meetings in Tumpat and Klang.

Oh, by the way, both these people who took their guns out and shot them during the Umno division meetings were never charged. This is of course not only because they are Umno chiefs, but because they are rich.

Correction: It was not Tumpat and Klang but Rantau Panjang and Port Kelang - Raja Petra