"I AM WITH MAHATHIR" (or what you can get away with if you can say that)"

There was a time in my life when all that I knew about DAP was their party newspaper The Rocket – which I must confess I have never read. Not then not now. PAS was to far away in Kelantan to be of any concern to me. And they had a Menteri Besar they call Tok Guru who lives in this Rumah Kampong which was most unbecoming for a leader!  Keadilan was closer to home. Anwar was a classmate but what can it do against the might of Barisan?

That was quite some time ago.

Last night I received a note from Lit Kit Siang -“Thanks. Keep on with your committed writings”. Anwar posted an article that I recently wrote “ Anwar a traitor?” on his blog. I have my personal contacts with PAS through Zulkilfi Sulong-a dear  friend of mine of many years.

What has changed?

DAP, Keadilan, PAS and me  - we are all together - the me being a minor part of the whole equation but nevertheless I consider myself to be part of the team. We are together in this effort to rid our country of many unpleasantness – of which UMNO/Barisan is but one of. What has changed for all of us in that this ‘fight’ has become very personal? Each and every one of us has made this fight personal because the injustice and the greed perpetuated by UMNO/Barisan has affected every Malaysian in one way or another. Every one of us has a story to tell. I will tell mine now.

My fight against the culture of materialism, the acquisition of material wealth – kebendaan - that Mahathir brought into the Malay consciousness is personal. Very personal.

I did not say goodbye to my Father before he died nor was I at his funeral. I did not know he had passed away until a week later. How could this have happened? How is it that I was not told that my Father did not have long to live? This is a recurring sorrow that is with me constantly. I would not want to wish that upon anybody.

Let me be precise. Let me tell you what happened.

On the very day that my Father passed away in February 1996 while his body was still at the house awaiting burial, Ringgit $453,863.60 was withdrawn from his personal Bank account. Ringgit $197,704.00 was withdrawn from his ASNB account the day after he died.

I will not go into what was taken from my Father’s Safe, how much was obtained by the disposal of his business and his personal assets because all these will be conjectures – but this I know. He had a Jaguar WCN 1628 when he died. One year before his death he had sold his Insurance Broking Company (Sime Zeta Hogg) to Sime Derby for Ringgit $5million.  When he died he left behind a De Fever Cabin Cruiser 44’ for which he paid One Million and Two Hundred Thousand Ringgit and a holiday unit at Sabena Cove where that boat was berthed.  He had a house at 15 Persiaran Titiwangsa  where he was kept virtually a prisoner in the last few months of his life as he was dying of cancer so that my two brothers could take what they can of his money and assets.

16^th December 1999 a Police Report - No: 36501/99 was made by me detailing the following:

      Withdrawal of RM197,704.00 from deceased ASNB a/c after he  died.
Withdrawal of RM453,863.60 from deceased Maybank Account.
Sale of Jaguar WCN 1628 belonging to the deceased.

10^th December 2001 I sent a letter to Dato Maizan Shaari, the then Commercial Crime Director inquiring the status of my Police Report.

16^th January 2002 - I received a reply from Dato’ Mohd Nawawi bin Ismail SAC 1 Ruj. JSJ KPN(PR) 35/84 stating  “Isu yang ditimbulkan oleh tuan telah diteliti dan pejabat ini akan memaklumkan keputusan siasatan dalam kadar segara” and that was over seven years ago – nothing to date.

May 2005 I forwarded a letter to Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad as follows:

May 21, 2005

AMANAH SAHAM NASIONAL BERHAD,

Customer’s Services and Agent Relations Department,

Level UG Balai PNB.

201-A Jalan Tun Razak,

50945 Kuala Lumpur.

Saudara,

Reference: No: Ahli A 252384345.

                  No: K.P. 0000355 Abdul Hamid Bin Abdul Latiff,

      

I refer to ASNB letter Ruj: ASNB/JO/KP/1/(81)/2002 dated 15^th April 2002 on the above matter. Please understand this:

             Abdul Hamid Abd. Latiff, my Father, passed away on the 12^th February 1996.

                   Your Borang SASB 3 (Jualan Balik menerusi buku asal) confirmed that                                                            $197,704.00 was withdrawn by Abdul Rahman Hamid (my brother) on the                                                      13^{th  February 1996 – the day after my Father passed away.}

Your letter informs me that on advice from your lawyers ASNB had decided to await the outcome of the Police Investigations. For what ever reason in the past, ASNB have decided not to take action against Abdul Rahman for CBT/Fraud or what have you. Please indicate to me whether this is still your stand on this matter? ASNB have a responsibility to the public to ensure that fraudulent withdrawal, as this certainly is, must be dealt with in a manner that will instil confidence with the public at large as to the ability for ASNB to carry out its duties without fear or favor.For ASNB to not do anything after being inform of the facts indicates a culture that might have been part and parcel of times gone by, but certainly not in tune with the present, when the Public and our Prime Minister expects transparency and accountability from entities such as ASNB.   

If you are not able to do so, or for reason best known to you, does not intend to do your duty as custodian of my Father’s savings, then I will have to look at options available to me to ensure same.

 

Signed by HH.

16^th May 2005: I forwarded a letter to Dato Hairuddin, Director Commercial Crime re status of  Police Report No: 36501/99. 

And was subsequently informed by ACP Tan Kok Lian as follows: 

‘Police have submitted their report to DPP – to date no decision/action/. ACP Tan have been instructed by Dato Hairuddin to “do the necessary” to move this case forward as there is a case for my two brothers to answer.’

Tun Mahathir these two brothers of mine  are:

·      Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Hamid.

    ·        Dato' Dr Zainal Abidin Bin Abdul Hamid

       MBBS (Mal), MRCP (UK), FRCP (UK),

       DMSM, PJN

This Zainal is the same Zainal who was your Personal Physician for 14 years. 

Why did the police not take action?

Why did ASNB not take action? 

Why did the DPP not take action?

Despite the matter being brought up in Parliament – still nothing eventuated.

I have asked myself why Zainal have abuse the trust my late Father and we have placed in him. Simply put - the years of being around you, seeing the life style of the rich and famous and the people that hangs around you got to him. Jetting to London and all over the world in your Jet, sailing with Ananda in Europe got to him. And he wanted to maintain the lifestyle that my Father had but he could not afford by himself.  When my father died this Zainal took over what he could – the money, the Jaguar, the De Fever Cruiser and the Sabena Cove Unit for himself so that he could continue to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous – and as is normal with the people around you Tun – this was done at the expense of other people. These people take what is not theirs, take from the very people that UMNO is suppose to champion – and there is nothing that we can do it about it.

The Police will not take action. The DPP will not prosecute. ASNB will not prosecute even when there is clear evidence that the money was taken after my father died. So what justice is there for people like me and for the thousands of others who have been abused by the very people who are sworn to protect us. So like I said Tun, my fight with you is very personal. You can say that these people did these things without your knowledge. Yes Tun this they did – but it happened under your watch. You are responsible just as you hold Pak lah responsible for what happened under his watch.

Time will be the leveler of us all. I hope that when Zainal time comes to meet his maker, the last conscious thoughts of his will be ‘that he has let his father down’. That I think will be my only hope of karma on this earth. Zainal will then have to make his peace with God. In that I have no part to play.

So understand this Tun Mahathir the people have made this fight with UMNO/Barisan a personal one. The personal costs to so many Malays, their Families, the Malay Race, other Malaysians and to this country in general is impactful enough for us to make this fight with you on a personal level and then to UMNO as the mechanism that made all this possible. But as is always the case, those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. We the people have looked at UMNO, at its leaders and at you and we think that if you are all not mad yet – the time to be so is not to far away. We can only hope that Pakatan Rakyat will be ready to do what it needs to do to bring us back from the brink and ensure that our country is ours again.