Nunca Más? Never again?

Argentina 1985 ( Spanish, 2022)
Written and directed: Santiago Mitre

After years of lawlessness in Argentina, after Peron and many ineffective military leaders, the people managed to democratically elect a government in 1983 after the disastrous Falkland Wars. The memory of the extreme torture, planned disappearances, complete lack of dignity and rape in the Dirty War just before peace could not be written off. For the first time after Nüremberg, a court tried military leaders for crimes they carried out as military personnel.

The country was split is whether to persecute the perpetrators. The people decided they should not be persecuted amongst their peers, i.e. court marshalled, as the whole machinery was complicit in the crimes. A group of the population benefitted from the army leaders' action; hence, they objected to prosecuting the junta members.

Against this background, Prosecutor Julio César Strassera and Luis Moreno Ocampo are chosen for the unenviable task. The trouble is none of the senior lawyers wanted to be in the prosecuting team. They had to resort to a group of non-lawyers and inexperienced fresh-of-the-boat lawyers for the job against those responsible for the bloodiest dictatorship in the history of Argentina. Amidst death threats, political interference and bomb explosion, the team presented a compelling account of the torture the victims of the ruling government had to endure in the name of 'protecting' the nation's sovereignty against rabble-rousers.

This film reminds me very much of the time surrounding the collapse of Najib's regime in the 2018 General Election. In fact, we are still out of the woods yet. The political chameleons complicit in 1MDB and Najib-UMNO's shenanigans are in the same team, which is supposed to be the new ruling party. In essence, the new boss is much the same old boss. Maintaining the hegemony of race and religion in a supposedly multi-ethnic nation was the primary justification for siphoning the country's wealth into UMNO's coffers. Because of this, the newly elected Attorney-General met resistance at all levels. As later events proved, even the then-PM turned out to be a fox guarding the proverbial chicken coop. Even the current weak government comprise the remnants of the regime that brought great infamy to a nation flying high in the 1980s with the promise of becoming a developed nation by 2020. It started its automobile industry at about the same time as Hyundai. Look at Hyundai and compare it to Proton. Korea's football team had made an impact in the World Cup, while Malaysia still struggles to draw with Laos and Nepal. Need not mention about respective movie industries. 

Argentina's 1985 Trial of the Juntas witnesses' descriptions of the atrocities the victims went through are nothing new. The many accounts of torture, humiliation, extrajudicial murders, and non-conformer forced disappearances are not relics of the past. Evil is still very much lurking in society. It rears its ugly head not only in war zones or in mobs. It is even present in civil society. If not, we would not see the brutal murder of Kevin Morais, the abduction of Pastor Koh or the many triad killings that gloss our mainstream media.

(P.S. The chief prosecutor's closing remark during submission included the phrase 'Nunca Más' - that never again such misfeasance should recur. As the human race is around, as long as human greed remains unquashed, atrocities will continue no matter which type of politics is practised.)

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Parliament, Unexpected; Government Interrupted!

Parliament, Unexpected

Tan Sri Ariff Yusof

This book is more like a report card on the activities of the Speaker who was appointed to the helm when the new Pakatan Harapan coalition government was elected. The government was short-lived with its own appointment premier sabotaging his own partners in what came to be known as the Sheraton move. Mahathir Mohammad was never happy with the unsettlingly high participation of opposition members in the new government. A bigoted racist by mindset, from the get-go, he had been devising a way to get his former party UMNO back to power without Najib and his band of thieves. Maybe by design or double-crossing, Mahathir got ousted instead. What remains now is a sleuth of incompetent clowns who dance around in their self aggrandising Emperor's New Clothes. Hyenas and jackals have all come out to play in a system that borders on lawlessness day by day.

He gives a brief account of his childhood days, his alma mater, his family, and his career and delves right into his sudden appointment as the Speaker in the august house of the Parliament. He took it as a national service as he already had a fulfilling daytime job in the legal circles. As the author puts it, nobody in his right mind would have a lifelong ambition to be the Speaker of the Parliament!

It is disheartening to read about how a respected man of scholarship and a former judge has to condescend to the schoolboy hooligans-like antics of grown men who were elected to ensure the smooth running of the country. These buffoons seem to be high on some kind of intoxicant that they have no qualms about using profanity in the House, that too in front of visitors, including schoolchildren. Coincidentally, the author seems to have drawn his fascination with politics from a similar visit during his school days. Oh yes, parliamentarians were more civil and proficient in their articulation then. In the short 22 months of the Pakatan rule, we witnessed mayhem and devious plot within and without the coalition to derail their administration.

Doing the right or moral thing does not come into the equation. It is all about the party line or some other dog whistle elsewhere. There must surely be some invisible hands above that survived all atrocities from the fall of the Malacca Empire all through the European and Japanese occupation to come out smelling of roses who control the narratives. They must have found the formula to stay relevant all these years.

They say that the Speaker is the person in charge of the Parliament, but is he really? With so many protocols and precedence set, it takes a whole department to ensure the institution's running. Any deviation from the norm would be construed as dishonouring the esteemed House. Many detractors are ever willing, with hawk-eyed tenacity, to pinpoint his deficiencies.

That is all in a day's work. In between slogging it out in the dogfight in the arena of Parliamentary sessions, the author managed to perform his other official duties. Then came Covid that the hidden hands probably used it for their convenience. In the sly, the Sheraton Move was brewing, which finally collapsed a democratically elected government to be replaced clandestinely with a 'back-door' government. The political uncertainty, however, continues. Many by-elections and state elections have shown trends of voters giving up on an alternative to the one they have known since Independence.

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Law is maintained only as long as it is respected.

I always wondered what is it that maintains order in our lives. What ensures total silence in the cinema when the movie is starting? What is it that assures that the viewers in an art gallery do not go around touching their exhibits with their dirty stubby fingers? What forces a patient to pay at a clinic after a consultation and the customer settle his bill after enjoying (or hating) his meal? They can jolly well just scoot off, now that their mission is accomplished. 

Well, it can happen with the occasional client who refuses to pay, but that is not the norm. Perhaps he is dissatisfied with the service or just because he can. Rather than creating a scene and draw unwanted publicity, the service provider would probably write it off as miscellaneous loss of doing business. To the rest, they know the long arm of the law would get them. They know that as the majority support orderly running of life transactions, they would not garner support against a sea of law-abiding supporters no matter how justified the lawbreaker can be with his wrongdoings. 

The balance will be tipped when the majority starts distrusting the institutions that maintain law and order. Anarchy prevails when the majority begins disrespecting the law. Law must be just and seen to be fair. Public perception is all to it. People hold law enforcement to high esteem not because they are scared of the law, they simply respect too much. 

Ask the British East India Company and the British Empire. They would tell you how a puny force managed to overpower and bring down a nation of many millions over - too much respect given to authority.

Roberto Schmidt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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Yada yada, blah blah!

 Joker (ஜோகார், Tamil; 2016)

Before Joaquin Phoenix came out in the 2019 DC comic film as the legendary Joker, there was already an award-winning Tamil movie with the same name. Unlike the DC version, this one is a low-budget production. And like the former, both are political and social satires of the system that we are living. More often than not, in our societies, we give people the liberty to speak a little bit too much. Some talk just because they want to be heard. Others vocalise just because God gave them a mouth. We tolerate many because we pity them; we know it is unkind to be cruel against the mentally challenged. We let them just blabber, but the problem is that mental illness can be contagious sometimes. 

With the advent of social media, there is no limit to how much stupidity can spread like wildfire and profound wisdom.

Unfortunately, life is not so straight forward. Muddled somewhere inside the pile of insanity is what is supposed to be the truth. Because of all the murmur of uncertainty and the noise of distortion, real facts remain buried in the rubble.

There was a time when only the learned would be allowed to speak, and the rest would listen. One needed a certain amount of intelligence to put forward their opinion. With the democratisation of speech and empowerment to express thoughts, everyone gets the opportunity to get their 2-cents worth of view across. Do we call this giving the oppressed a voice to speak? Is the converse the rule of elitist? Is the former pushing for chaos and the latter a precursor to leftist's wet dream of creating unthinking automatons?

This bizarre movie starts with a man who is living in a debilitated hut. Starting his day answering calls on his cheap mobile phone answering to the name of President of India, rubber-stamping his letter with the Republic's emblem and pushing his weight around his neighbourhood. Slowly we realise that he is delusional. He has a comatose wife at home who became so after a freak accident caused by the government machinery's corruption. He tries to obtain a court order to allow euthanasia on his wife but repeatedly fails. The whole film just shows the vulture of politicians and his sycophant businessmen and hyena henchmen who hawk on Government projects to maximise profit and pay back the minimum to the gullible public.

Without a cerebral matter, imagine even ants can organise such complicated colonies, complete with armed forces, reserves for a rainy day, and even sick bays to care for the infirm. Why do we need politicians to guide us through? Seriously, mankind should have stopped at the oldest profession of all time, not start the second oldest, which is close to the first! 

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Nobody likes a smart Alec!

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: 2020
Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

Yes, that is the final name to Borat's 2006 follow-up mockumentary. The title went through many name changes; the previous ones were equally ridiculous and ridiculously long. It also has the dubious reputation of incurring the wrath of many Americans (and Kazhaks) and attracting many legal suits. The Kazaks were just as pissed for depicting them as a bunch of village fools ruled by a despotic regime.

If one is looking for a Wodehousian type of humour in this offering, look elsewhere. It is a lowbrow comedy through and through with toilet humour, genitals, menstruation and all.

It was strategically released before the US Presidential elections and contains some not so savoury depiction of Trump's lawyer and former Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, in a hotel room kerfuffle with a young journalist. It is all a prank, and the film is full of it. Borat holds a mirror to the Americans right on their face to showcase their latest embarrassing side. He prods the gullible public in the manner of a naive East European native who is struggling with his English to ask current questions like whether one should vote for the Democrats. Their hypocrisy is laid bare for us to scrutinise.

In a scene, Borat's 16-year-old daughter had swallowed a toy baby figurine on a cupcake. This is obviously referring to the Pizzagate scandal where allegedly prominent figures are involved in Satanic practices like eating babies. She is then brought to a Woman's Clinic for treatment run by a pastor. Borat with his bumbling English telling the pastor, "My daughter got baby in stomach, I want to take out. I give her baby. (referring to the cupcake he had fed her or is it incest he is indicating?)" is just too funny.

The film has another court case against the estate of a recently deceased Holocaust survivor who was apparently tricked into an interview which was subsequently included in the film. Many of the 'participants' in the movie are mere passers-by.
On one side, the viewers will go off thinking that it is a Democrat bashing movie. Then we realise that Trump, his party members and the Republican supporters are also not spared of his caustic sarcasm.

https://fb.watch/1l4jxH57Uw/

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Wheat from chaff, rice from husk!

Panel discussion in Georgetown Literary Festival 2018 on
Indian Democracy.

From the fringe, from the outside, from one who views the drama as a third person, the political scene in India is quite confusing. It all depends on where one consumes the information.

If you were to follow Twitter feeds, the dedicated and erudite 'spin doctors' will make you believe that India is indeed in the midst of a sort of 'Renaissance' that Europe went through in the 15th century. Reels of her successes are flashed upon your very eyes. Discoveries are made on a daily basis of newfound explanations on old Indian (Hindu) wisdom. It is as though they are not only catching the bus of the Industrial Revolution but indeed overtaking it. They would like us to believe that they are just re-claiming their standings in the old world as it was four centuries ago when a quarter of the world's wealth was under their thumbs. They are in a quest to re-dust of their old scriptures which they claim held all the known and unknown secrets of the universe. Our forefathers knew it all, but over the ages, we have blinded ourselves with the wisdom of the fools. They justify the old archaic rituals with what the detractors refer to pseudosciences, but for believers, it is cosmic science.

They have us convinced that their economy is flying high with counterfeit money off the market and terrorism under check because of their demonetisation policies. The opposing camp, however, dismisses it as mumbo-jumbo, pointing towards weak rupee as the indisputable proof.

Panel discussion in Georgetown Literary Festival 2018
on the Partition of India.

There are murmurs under the surface that emphatically attest that there is a concerted effort by interest groups outside the country who are in control of media, print and broadcast, and hellbent in creating anarchy in a nation that is known for its tolerance of pluralism. They, who happen to be ruling currently, accuse journalists and intellectual as tools of the enemy of the state for undermining the prosperity of the nation.

In spite of what the ruling party says about class unity and religious tolerance in India, the media paints a very bleak picture of brotherhood amongst its people. Some quarters insists volatility is at an all-time high, last seen in 1947 during Partition. For the first time, Hindus have been issued certificates confirming their belief to the Hindu 'religion'! This must be another form of 'rebranding' as it had been doing to stay afloat. Hinduism, the way of life has evolved many times to counter the popularity of other emerging teachings many times before.

We live in an age of propaganda. What we hear is not what is real and is happening at the ground level. Our system is such that everyone is kept contended in their cocoons hearing their own self-satisfying rhetoric that resonates in their own echo chamber. Vigilance is of paramount importance. We need discourses and people who continuously challenge our convictions. Is there a need to filter information when freedom of information has become a right? We must know to separate the wheat from the chaff, rice from the husk.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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We did it our way - Malaysian Tsunami!

Probably the most iconic picture of the times. 
The hands that were to protect the people 
are used to prevent the rights of the member 
of the public to exercise his democratic rights. 
Dr Streram Sinnasamy being prevented from 
submitting his nomination papers for failing to 
display the commission's identity tag (which 
was not given to him in the first place). 
This image and many like this must have 
evoked emotions so compelling to move 61 
years of a single rule party. 

Credit: Free Malaysia

A commonly uttered colloquial Tamil proverb goes, "you cannot hide a whole wax gourd under your serving of rice!" Once you start eating your rice, your deliciously spiced gourd will undoubtedly reveal itself. A lie cannot be hidden from public knowledge forever. Eventually, the truth will tell itself, sooner or later.

When the whole world was hurling abuses and accusation against the leaders of the country, the people stayed quiet. When nations ridiculed us, they kept mum. When day to day living became difficult, they persevered. When new taxes stared their ugly head under the pretext of saving the nation, they sacrificed. When the taxmen came knocking and demanding, they relented. When the stories were spun again and again to make them look like fools, they must have wised up. But they had a funny of showing it or rather hiding it.

Or maybe, the party which claims to have received the Decree of Independence on a silver platter are using their colonial master's tactic of 'divide and rule'. Instigating hatred and fear amongst each other, everyone is left to their own devices in their safe cocoons. 

The heat and the long wait are just moments in time.
The results, the future of generation next, are history
in the making. © FG

When the standard response in any part of the world where public opinion meant something would be the widespread demonstrations of displeasure and violence, they did not go along that line. The ghost of racial riots in their infancy of independence remained vivid in their minds. They knew unrest did not augur well for businesses and they knew money moved mountains.

On the outside, the general public appeared aloof. A few incidents here and there showed the might of the ruling power. Perhaps, they were afraid. Maybe they did not care. Hyenas surviving on kills of the guardians of the lion's share came out on a prowl. The whole might of the executive, judiciary and legislative forces were mobilised to protect these vermins.

They also say 'still water runs deep' or 'don't expect the calm waters not to have crocodiles' and 'the potato grows in spite of the silence'. Beneath the surface, in homes, in cyberspace, despite the propaganda that the powers that be spruced, resentment actually ran deep. Social media lit with visuals of the tyranny of injustice and volumes of literature of wrongdoings.

Not the middle finger © FG

The sleeping giant of the silent public finally awoke from its seeming slumber of impassivity. In drones, they swarmed, from near and far, to their polling stations on that historic day 9th of May 2018. 

Malaysians finally spoke. They reject injustice. In a bittersweet moment, it seems that public has forgiven the 'dictator' who could be blamed for mending the rules to start the rot and elect their 93-year-young ex-PM as their new premier. The 93-year-young had earlier made his peace with his enemies and the people whom he had witch hunted during his tenure, and vice-versa the victims, for the common cause of saving a nation. 

Back in 2015 during an international marathon meet in Chiengmai, an Indonesian participant asked my friend, upon discovering that he is a Malaysian. "What is wrong with you people? Putting up with a kleptocratic authoritarian. In Indonesia, we would have just shot him!"

Now, I know the answer. We in Malaysia know the supreme power of the people. We believe in the democratic system. We did it our way, no bloodshed, no anarchy, no storming into palaces or the use of vigilantes. We used the ballot box. We are not apathetic to our surroundings after all. We are Malaysians. 

Credit: Lat

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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Cleaning time!

Somehow we got a good deal. The maker was in a good mood he made us, our country. The lush of greenery, the evergreen trees, the stable tectonic plates, the absence of major catastrophes, the strategic location was our selling point. Our quaint lazy ambience with rich natural resources must have earned our nickname comparing it to a golden land.

Ah, people were always lousy...

But there was a world, once.

This same trait must have been the pulling factor that drew unsavoury visitors who wanted all for themselves. The early settlers, with no malice on their mind, ushered them in with open arms, typical of how they would honour their weary guests as described by most of the holy scriptures that they knew.

The conniving guests, with evil exuding through their eyes and souls plot devious mischiefs to create pandemonium just to appear of as peacemaker at the same time. The host started fragmenting. The guests suddenly appeared more composed, more cultured and wiser. With their master wrangling and wringing of the truth, they turned the tables. The visitors became the masters and the hosts were at their mercy.

A wave of resurgence swept their world like a tsunami, shaking the foundation of administration. Awoken from a slumber, the subjects rose to the occasion via the same knowledge that the, now colonial masters had advocated for their own convenience. 

The natives became masters. The scurrying masters left behind a solid foundation complete the pillars of execution, legislation and administration protocols. The scholarly template and medical web network that they left behind was the envy of its neighbours. Blessed with industrious thrifty citizens who were gung-ho to catch up with lost times, the country went all steam ahead. They were going places, reaching dizzying heights. What used to be a void space between the 'Elephant kingdom' and the 'Lion kingdom' suddenly surfaced on atlases.

The designated leaders encouraged simpleton followers of the new dream to squeeze the throttle. Self-glorification elevated them higher and higher. Nothing seems impossible. As the lab rats reach near exhaustion, emaciation and anaerobic ketoacidosis, the subjects realised that their tokens have shrunken. The treadmill seems steeper, their speed faster with shrinking results.

News squiggled of certain discrepancies in calibration. Lab rats are no scientists but they knew where it hurt. They could not stomach the nonsensical computations that their caretakers were selling. The favourite snack / token that they had died for all these while was no cheese but hold behold soylent green!

"Enough is enough, this time we change!" they said. They raised their hoes and sickles and don their favourite yellow attire to parade and show their solidarity to clean the laboratory, kitchen sink, drain the bathtub with  the baby and all.

What is it that you really want?

After the demise of Singapore's founding father, LKY, the question of personal liberty and freedom versus the need for Big Bro to oversee things for the nation's greater good made its rounds. Proponents of human rights and individual freedom would argue that the Government has no business barging into personal lives and tapping into our telephone calls. After gruelling all the wrong decisions in the past and paying dearly, the West could no longer trust their governments. Instead, they would let their elected leaders mess up all people's (Third World) future than their own. The leaders are elected servants, and they are there to serve.

On the other end, paternalistic leaders feel that human beings are just brainless blind invertebrates with a herd mentality. They just follow their peers without much thinking or analysing! This was proposed by Sayyid Kutb, the Egyptian school inspector who earned a scholarship to the USA. In his daily dealings, he discovered that people are only obsessed with materialism, violence, and sexual pleasures. They are clueless about what they actually want in their lives, and they need strong leadership to pave and lead the way. His ideology became the spine of many ultra-nationalistic and religious bigots.

LKY has an impressive set of laurels to prove that his formula of regimentalised dictatorship had been pivotal in transforming a backwater village into a first-class metropolitan city. His foes would say that the only difference between Kim Jong Il and LKY is the prosperity of its citizen. But is not that the end of all, being prosperous and affluent? Or is something more than being happy, belly full and money jingling in your pants and knowing your old age is taken care of?

Not all lawyers are sharks!

MALAYSIAN BIBLE: THE JOURNEY OF THE AL KITAB BERITA BAIK
UPDATES, RECOLLECTIONS & REFLECTIONS 

BY LEE MIN CHOON

IN MEMORY: KARPAL SINGH, TRUE HUMANITARIAN

This has nothing to do with the Malay Bible. But I can’t help but feel a sense of loss with the passing of colleague at the Bar and friend, Karpal Singh. So, here’s how I remember him.

It must have been around 1985 when I was helping a convict on death row who had become a Christian while in prison. Liew Weng Seng was sentenced to death under the Internal Security Act for possession of a firearm. At the Federal Court, Liew was unrepresented and proceeded to tell the court that he was guilty and did not wish to appeal his death sentence. When court was adjourned, his family tried to pass him a bible but was prevented from doing so by the prison warders. A commotion ensued and made the news the next day. When I read the report, I thought, “Hey, this guy is a Christian and he had just told the court to go ahead to hang him.”

I called the office at Pudu Prison and arranged for an appointment to see Liew. When we met, he confirmed that what the newspapers reported was what happened in court. I listened as he told his story of how he got into crime. It was a pitiful story of a boy growing up in the slums and being influenced by the gangs. Soon he was committing crimes. The law caught up with him. Possession of firearms was a capital offence. Liew was not yet 30 as he faced the gallows. Since his case was over, I offered to write a petition for pardon on his behalf to the King. I would not charge him any fees. It was a favour to a fellow Christian. Liew agreed. Over the next one year, I would visit Liew. As he spoke no English or Malay and as my Chinese was vitually incomprehensible, I always brought along a Chinese pastor with me to encourage and minister to Liew.

One day, Liew’s family called me. They said the prison had called to say that Liew will be hanged in 3 days time. I told them I would do what I can. I called the prison and then the palace to find out what happened to Liew’s petition for pardon. Eventually, I was told that it was rejected and the court had issued a warrant for his execution. I went to see Liew with his family. It saddened me that our friendship over the past year was coming to an end. Liew said that he had made his peace with God and he was not afraid. I asked him if he would consider doing some good with his death by donating his organs. He agreed. Over the next 2 days, I went to the General Hospital to find out the procedure and paperwork for this sort of thing. On the eve of his execution, I came to see Liew one last time and gave him some papers to sign to donate his organs. I bought him a meal from the prison canteen. Then we said goodbye and I told him we will meet again one day.

I arrived home late in the afternoon, went to the backroom of my house and laid down on a bed. I did not want my wife and child to see the tears I shed for Liew. In 12 hours time, Liew will be taken from his cell (at 5.00 am the next day) and be hung by the neck till he was dead.

Suddenly, my wife walked into the room and said, “Karpal Singh is here to see you.”

I went to my front door and saw Karpal Singh and another lawyer, Ngeow Yin Ngee, standing at my front door.

“Are you Liew Weng Seng’s lawyer?” asked Karpal.

“Yes,” I replied.

Karpal then explained that he was the lawyer for 2 convicts who were scheduled to be hanged at the same time with Liew. Karpal’s clients were found guilty of assassinating the Chief Police Officer of Perak. They had waited for him at a traffic junction in Ipoh and shot him to death when he passed by. Karpal said that he had filed a court case raising some legal technicality and had obtained an ex parte stay of execution from Judge Hashim Yeop Sani (ex parte means that the order was given after hearing only one side; later, the Judge would re-hear the case from both sides). When Karpal went to Pudu Prison to serve the order for the stay of execution, he was informed that there was a third man to be executed, Liew.

“Come with me,” Karpal said, “we’ll go to my office and prepare the papers and get a stay of execution for your client as well.”

It must have been about 6.00 pm when we drove back to Kuala Lumpur in Ngeow’s car. We reached Karpal’s office past 7.00 pm. He then started to dictate to his clerk who typed furiously on the typewriter. I gave them Liew’s details. I was still in a daze. All the time, Karpal worked at preparing the papers like a man consumed and trying to beat a deadline. We must have finished the paperwork at about 9.00 pm. It was 8 hours to the execution.

“Let’s go see the Judge,” Karpal said.

The first place we went to was the home of Madam Harwanth Kaur, the Senior Assistant Registrar to Judge Hashim. We bundled her into the car and four of us drove to the home of Judge Hashim in Petaling Jaya. We reached his house at 10.00 pm and Karpal banged on his door. We were let into the Judge’s living room.

“Judge,” said Karpal as he handed the judge a stack of papers, “there is another man due to be hanged tomorrow. Can you give a stay of execution for him as well?”

“The Attorney-General will jump!” sniggered Judge Hashim as he signed an order for the stay of Liew’s execution.

We then left the Judge’s house and drove to the High Court at Kuala Lumpur. It was 11.00 pm when we arrived. The courthouse was in total darkess and tightly shut. We found the security guard and Harwanth ordered him to open the court doors. Four of us went into the registry section of the court house. We were looking for the court seal. The court order although signed by the Judge was no good without the seal of the court imprinted on it. The four of us fanned out to look for the court seal. It was a stroke of good fortune that we found the court seal in a short time. Harwanth sealed the court order and handed it to Karpal. We left the court house but first we had to send Harwanth back home. Her job was done.

When we arrived at the gates of Pudu prison at 12.30 am the next morning, there was a crowd of reporters surrounding the huge metal prison door. Karpal banged on the doors. A warden poked his head out and said, “All of you please stay out. Only Mr Karpal, Mr Ngeow and Mr Lee can come in.”

Karpal duly served the order for a stay of Liew’s execution on the prison director. The next day, the papers reported a sensational last minute rush to save 3 men from the gallows.

Within a week, we were back in Judge Hashim’s court. The Attorney-General, Abu Talib Othman, did jump and he made an application to the Judge to set aside all 3 stay orders. Karpal argued the case with his usual brilliance. I cannot remember the legal point. All I can remember was that it was never argued before. Karpal had no previous court decisions to rely on. It was like going back to school to see Karpal at work and the lesson: “Think outside the box.” At the end of arguments, the Judge set aside the 3 stay orders clearing the way for the men to be executed under a fresh warrant. Karpal appealed to the Federal Court. Again, it was dismissed.

Let me pause awhile. Throughout this time, Karpal did all the work for Liew’s case, paid for all the court expenses and made sure I was always present to take part. He never once talked about payment. It was as if he was meant to do this.

A few months later, warrants of execution were issued again. Judge Hashim had ruled that the High Court could not order a stay of execution. It must be ordered by the Attorney-General who was the chairman of the Pardons Board. Karpal made appeals to the Attorney-General but it fell on deaf ears.

On the eve of the execution, Karpal summoned Ngeow and I to his office. It was about 8.00 pm when we got there. Karpal did a lot of things at night as he would be in court the whole day doing more than one case per day. He suggested we go to see the ambassadors of the European countries to seek their help to persuade the government to delay the executions. Karpal had discounted the US ambassador as the Malaysian government under Dr Mahathir was hostile to the US. However, the government had good ties with the Europeans.

We went to see the German ambassador. He informed us that the European embassies have a system where they would appoint one of the European ambassadors on rotation as a representative to speak to the Malaysian government on behalf of the rest. At that time, the French ambassador was the chairman. So, off we went to the French ambassador’s house. I cannot remember the conversation as it was a long time ago. But the ambassador told us that he was not able to help.

We went back to Karpal’s office at midnight. 5 hours to the execution. Karpal was wracking his brain to think of something. I was exhausted and had almost given up but I hoped that Karpal would again pull something out of his hat. How about this? No, won’t work. How about that? On and on we went. At about 2.00 am, 3 hours to execution, Karpal said that there’s nothing more we could do. He asked us to go home. A few hours later, Liew and the other 2 convicts were dead.

Lawyers can be the most heartless of men. Society had a reason for calling lawyers sharks. Its because we thrive on the misfortunes of others. Most lawyers I met are in it for the money. They have no heart for their clients who they see to be nothing more than a source of income. Karpal was not like that. In my encounter with him over Liew’s case, Karpal demonstrated true humanity and a genuine care for his clients. Whatever their crimes were, he saw them as human beings and felt a sense of responsibility for them over and above the call of duty.

Karpal Singh was a true humanitarian. We will miss him.

http://malaysianbible.net/2014/04/17/in-memory-karpal-singh-true-humanitarian/