Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
— George Orwell, English novelist and journalist
June 7, 1974 will go down as one of Malaysia’s saddest days when Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Hashim was gunned down at the Jalan Tun Perak-Raja Chulan junction by two assassins in broad daylight.
It was an era when the communist insurgency was at its height and at a time when the country was going through great political changes.
The 1970s impacted my life as a crime reporter because the victim’s son Najib was not only a family friend, but also a colleague on the NST crime desk.
I received word about the killing while on duty during the morning shift and speeded to the scene with another crime reporter, Harith Hashim.
As a 24-year-old cadet reporter, I was given instructions to get as much information as possible and pass it to news editor Philip Mathews as quickly as possible for our sister paper the Malay Mail.
Coincidentally, Najib was on his way to the office at about 8.20am when he spotted a crowd and an official police vehicle in the midst of the gathering.
Najib caught up with NST’s court reporter, the late Christal Kraal, who was at the scene of the crime and contacted the office.
Even as the police rushed Rahman to the hospital and tracker dogs were sent to sniff out the perpetrators, who had fled on a motorcycle, both Harith and I were busy at work.
Philip’s instruction was that he wanted a “blow-by-blow” story of the events because it was going to make the front page of the Malay Mail.
He said: “Ritchie, we must have the story by 10am the latest.”
By the time I had arrived at scene, it was past 9am because our car had to weave through the traffic jam.
In the days when mobile phones were unheard of, I realised that the only public phone available was at the court premises, located at the top of the hill.
So I arranged for Harith to collect whatever latest information he could gather while I would do the “sprinting” up the steps of the steep hill.
A former school athlete and sprinter, I had to run up and down the hill to collect the latest facts and call Philip from the public phone — if not the NST bosses would go for both Harith’s and my head.
By the hour I had sent a story which broke the Malay Mail newspaper sales record, selling more than 40,000 copies.
The following day I got another scoop when I interviewed the newly-appointed IGP Tun Hanif Omar for the Sunday Mail.
Hanif, who is a personal friend, wrote in the preface of my book ‘Crimson Tide Over Borneo — Untold Police Stories’ (2011) said: “James has made his mark in the profession of his choice — the print media. Starting as a crime reporter with the New Straits Times in Kuala Lumpur … he kept in close touch with police officers.
“When the IGP Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Hashim was assassinated by the Malayan communists and I succeeded him on June 8, 1974, James was the first reporter to inform me (of Rahman’s death) for the Malay Mail.
“Ten months later on April 6, 1975 he was the first reporter to inform me of Superintendent Joni Mustapha’s tragic death following a fire-fight with a group of Sarawak communists.”
A family friend, Joni, was the commander of the 15th Battalion PFF, and he was killed in an ambush at Sungei Stabau near Sibu on April 6, 1975.
Seven months later on Nov 13, Seremban-born Datuk Koo Chong Koo was shot dead by two terrorists in Ipoh, Perak.
Koo had been promoted as chief police officer of Perak and it was a “death warrant” because apart from Rahman, he was high on the hit list.
If you turn the clock back, you will discover that dozens of members of the Royal Malaysian Police since 1963 — from Chinese ‘undercover’ personnel of the Special Branch and members of the PFF — have lost their lives.
At least 50 members of the Sarawak Border Scouts were killed in the war against communism.
Sadly, more than 1,500 Border Scouts were promised compensations of RM1,500 per family by the BN government five years ago but nothing has been forthcoming!
Maybe the ‘new’ PN government could right the wrong by holding on to their promises, oil rights aside, and ‘pay up’?
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
