Mon Dieu! 18 Road Kills!

Hello, everybody who's visiting my blog! I'm alive! I survived the three-day drive through the amazing dry arid desert known as the beautiful Nullarbor Desert aka the Nullarbor! I started off from Perth Victoria Park in one of the Ford Motor Company's latest car model -- still too tired to recall what the model is, will add in later -- and drove and drove, almost like my fave Canuck singer, celine Dion's song lyrics "I drove all night ...". Yeah, don't try this fellas if you have a fear of the unknown! The owner of the expensive vehicle was a total stranger and it would turn out later that he had so many past over- speeding tickets that he said "I can't remember how many!" That meant I had to do most of the driving while he snoozed! Jeez, day driving was a breeze along the mighty fine roads that were pretty winding in many areas but night driving was hell! Most, if not most of the rural roads did not have street lights! Don't worry though if you're ever attempting this feat, the reflectors on the roads were abundant and helped lots whenever the car lights hit them!

So it was great--who wouldn't enjoy driving a brand new largest Aussie car dealer John Hughes' Ford vehicle from Perth to Sydney? Just push the button on "cruise control" and enjoy the fast ride! Then when we reached the awesome Nullarbor Desert ... OMIGOD! I couldn't sleep staring in awesome wonder at how vast a desert it was! I could see small trees at first and then all I could see were yellowish land without any trees! Then there was this huge clear sign that said we were on Australia's longest straight road!!! Wow! Could I resist speeding over the 110km/hour speed limit? Ah, I won't answer that but all of my Miri buddies know I don't over speed or break the traffic laws ... However, my wealthy manager co-driver assured me that in Australia, there would be areas where overspeeding the speed limits are permitted if there are not posted anywhere!

So what could I have missed if I were sitting in the great Indian Pacific train from Perth to Adelaide? Wow! I would have missed the fresh cold air and the blazingly bright sunlight, the stench of road kills, the sight of over 18 bloody dead young kangaroos on the roads, dirty ugly vultures plucking away at their corpses, having the meals of their lives ... and the killing of a cute young rabbit as our car struck it just as it was about to reach our lft side of the road! Then there was the incredible view of the Pacific Ocean as we reached past Western Australia into South Australia ...

To be continued

Encounter with WA Cops
Encounter with SA Cops!
My change of destination from Adelaide to Sydney
The amazing Sydney City
The Red Lights of Sydney!

More amazing stories about the Nullarbor at Wikipedia here: Nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nullarbor_Plainullarbor

David Marshall: What is Justice?

Continuation of extracts from Alex Josey's The David Marshall Trails (Singapore: Times Books International, 1981) pages 246-7:

They found out about him pestering Mei-lin*. They were not surprised: in Johore, Bellows* had a reputation for manhandling girls whenever he had had a drop too much. He had been involved in several nasty fights over bargirls in some of the more disreputable night haunts.

Altogether they seemed to be plenty of evidence that Ah Tong* might have a good cause for assaulting Bellows but hardly enough to suggest murder. In any case was Ah Tong strong enough to swing a heavy parang (long sharp knife) with such murderous intent? It must have been a very determined blow that struck Bellows, a blow that needed considerable effort and strength. Hatred brings strength, sometimes. The evidence in the diary could not be ignored.

When the police told Ah Tong that they might have to arrest him in connection with Bellows' murder, two things happened very suddenly.

Firstly, a young man stepped forward and confessed to the murder. His name was Foo Chan*. Second, the village headman telephoned the Old Man's (David Marshall's) office to retain his services, "no matter what the cost", he said.

The Old Man hurried to the village, talked to the headman and to the young man who had confessed to killing Bellows.

Then the Old Man inspected the scene of the crime. He was puzzled by the young man's attitude. He seemed not the slightest bit worried. He had no remorse. When the Old Man asked him why he killed Bellows, the young man said, in translation, that he'd picked up the parang in the store, followed Bellows and struck him.

"Yes, yes," said the Old Man. "That was how you killed him. But why?"

"Why?"

"Yes, why did you kill him?"

For a moment Foo Chan hesitated. Then he said, as though remembering his lines in a play: "Oh yes. Because he was a bad man."

"That hardly seems sufficient reason for you to crease his skull with a parang." muttered the Old Man.

No man looked less like a murderer than Foo Chan. He did not look like a peasant. He looked more like a studious student, a research student. What was he doing in this village? His place was in the classroom, or a laboratory in a university, not in the padi fields. Short, plumb, gentle, he wore wore large spectacles, clean white shirt, creased white trousers. His nails were short and clean. Try as he could the lawyer could not visualise Foo Chan creeping up behind the taller Bellows and summoning enough rage and strength to plunge a parang into Bellow's head. He didn't look capable of swatting a fly.

The Old Man was experienced: he had defended many men accused of murder. Murder was usually a one-time affair, unpremeditated, emotion playing the predominant part. Most murderers look unlike the conception of a killer. But Foo Chan! He appeared entirely without emotion. He treated the Old Man with respect, having apparently no fear that in this man's hands rested his future existence. He sought no assurances. He seemed perfectly satisfied that he was in no danger.

The Old Man went back to the headman and told him that he could only take the case and defend the young man on the distinct understanding that Foo Chan permitted him to decide the method and form of defence. Willingly, the headman at once agreed. Any conditions the Old Man laid down would be faithfully carried out. The village had absolute confidence in him.

"You realise, of course, that if I fail, this young man will hang?"

"Because you are defending him, we know that he won't," replied the headman with a bland smile.

"Let us not carry trust too far," warned the Old Man, a little shaken.


TO BE CONTINUED


*fictitious names but real persons

A Barbaric Execution

The following quotations made by DSP (Deputy Superintendent of police) Muhammad Koey Abdullah, are taken from Bernama in the ongoing Altantuya murder trial.

It would be the 65th day of the trial of the two police personnel, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 31 and Corporal Sirul Azhar, 36 of the Special Action Unit. They are charged with murdering Atantuya, 28, between 10 p.m. on October 19 last year and 1 a.m. the following day in a secondary jungle in Bukit Raja in Malaysia.

A prominent political analyst, Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 47 is charged with abetting them.

The victim, Altantuya Sharariibuu, a Mongolian translator was allegedly murdered by the Malaysian elite police force specialists with C-4 explosives.

"I discussed it with with Dr. Mohammad Shah Mahmood (a pathologist) at the scene. He told me that he found the largest skull piece about the same size of of a 50-sen (cent) coin; hair blown off to the south-east. So, an explosive substance had been placed on the hairless part of the head, probably the forehead or face, mouth and so on.

As the upper part of the spine column was intact, I assumed there was an explosive substance placed at the upper limbs. And no leg bone was found; so it was possible that an explosive was placed on the lower abdomen".

"Skull fragments, bones, hair and spinal column were found. If a large quantity (of explosive) had been used, probably no bones would be found".

"The discovery of RDX-a secondary high-powered explosive substance (indicates PE may be used in the murder incident)". RDX can be found in PE of PP01 and PE-N12B1 types".

"In my opinion it was a simple electric firing command".

Latest Altantuya Murder Haunting Voices

Left: detonated C-4 explosive.

You have been very arrogant, Tun Majid from day one ... Shut up and sit down.
-Karpal Singh, acting counsel for Athantuya's father in expressing his objection to the lead prosecutor's interruption of his request to ask questions.
(The Star, 23/6/07)

You have no right to tell me to sit down. Only the court can tell me to sit down. You shut up. -Tun Majid, in responding to Karpal Singh. (The Star, 23/6/07)
Holding briefs also has rights. I won't take nonsense from DPPs either. -Karpal Singh, in responding back. (The Star, 23/6/07)

I have not checked what her religion was. It's a possibility that sometimes the children tell their parents and sometimes they don't. -Dr. Shaariibuu answering Karpal Singh's question about the possible conversion of Altantuya. (The Star, 23/6/07)

Resipsa loquitor! (Latin: the fact speaks for itself) -Mazlinda Baginda, AR Baginda's wife, after seeing the 7-person show of support for her husband by his MSRI staff. (Malaysiakini, 26/6/07)

Three of us were under pressure. Suras (Kumar) and Bala (P. Balasubramaniam) threatened to throw us out of the window and wanted to kill us. Every night they came to our room and knocked on the door forcefully at 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 am. Suras and Bala said, 'Razak Baginda is going to kill you'. -Altantuya's cousin Namima Gerelmaa said via a translator. (Malaysiakini, 26/6/07)

On Nov 24, I left with Altantuya's father, Sharibuu but at the airport we had a problem because they (Immigration officials) did not have a record of Altantuya, Namiraa or me entering the country. They said they had no data of our records. The entry was deleted in the computer. I was still holding my air ticket so they asked me how I came to the country. [...] was it by sea or by air. So I showed them my ticket that had the date of when I flew into Malaysia. -Urinintuya Gol Ochir, when asked when she had returned to Malaysia. Malaysiakini, 26/6/07)

There was no record of our entry. At that time (Malaysian honorary consul-general for Mongolia) Syed Abdul Rahman Athabshi was also following us to Mongolia. Two police officers took me (away) saying I came into the country illegally. I was there (at the airport) for two hours before they let us leave. -Uriintuya (Malaysiakini, 26/6/07)
It had been deleted. I wonder why our immigration records for entering Malaysia had been deleted? -Uuriintuya (Malaysiakini, 26/6/07)
... I think the (diamond-studded) ring, I think she told me her boyfriend had bought it for her. i believe the boyfriend was (Abdul) Razak (Baginda). -Uuriintuya, in answering kapal Singh's query on her recognition of Athantuya's personal effects.

Other Past Haunting Voices:
Whoever is involved will be brought to book regardless of his stature. I am going to find out how and who authorized the issuance of the explosives used in the murder.
-Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan to reporters (The Asian Sentinel, 8/11/06)

... For more than a decade, Baginda has been the executive director of Malaysian Strategic Research Institute, which is technically a private think-tank but has close connections to the Malaysian armed forces and the United Malay National Organization, the largest party in the ruling coalition.
-The Asian Sentinel, 8/11/06)

Evidence will be adduced to show that the deceased's (Altantuya's) cause of death was 'probable blast-related injuries', which means she may have died the cruel death of being blown alive.
-Deputy Public Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah,
The Star, 18/6/07)

Intriguing quotation with unconfirmed source (presently) found in blogosphere:
I pray to Allah for right to be done. I don't want justice. I want right to be done.
-allegedly said by A.R's wife on the first day of the trial.

Early press image of 'Altantuya'. It is now claimed it is of a Korean model who bears a striking close resemblance to her.







Present real image of Altantuya.

Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda in pink shirt


Accused killer, AR Baginda's Mysterious close Black pal, 'Mark'. He has been providing comfort to Baginda's family. Does anyone out there have more info about this huge dude other than he was said to be an old classmate of Baginda in the University of London and he claimed to have taken a month off from work just to be in Malaysia to support his friend. He is standing next to Baginda's daughter, Rowena.
He has refused to disclose his full name.

The Eleventh Hour Game...

At the eleventh hour...

a) the ill-fated courageous American firefighters were either still climbing up the stairs or rescuing some of the thousands of trapped World Trade Centre innocent civilians whose buildings had been hit by two aeroplanes cowardly hijacked by al Quaeda terrorists;

b) the sixth Global Interfaith Conference to be held in Malaysia and chaired by the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, following the September 11 attacks by Islamic terrorists were abruptly cancelled by the Malaysian government under Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi;

c) one of the most sensational murder trials in Malaysian history involving a shot Mongolian translator, Altantuya Shaariibuu and the use of extremely rare special explosives to blow her to pieces by elite special forces commandos, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar and the alleged abatement by University of London graduate, Abdul Razak Baginda, allegedly her lover, a high profile socio-economic think tank organization founder and consultant and a prominent adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister, was abruptly postponed due to the astonishing reason that the prosecutor and the sitting judge were seen playing badminton earlier;

d) the Malaysian Prime Minister, a widower, Abdullah Badawi suddenly announced on a Wednesday he had found someone, an Eurasian convert, Jeanna Abdullah, whom he would be marrying on the coming Saturday;

e) the ex-premier, Mahathir Mohammad announced he was going away from Malaysia on the 18th June, 2007 and the whole of Malaysia trembles because the COSMIC JOKER somewhere above us loves to play jokes on Malaysia whenever this awesome mortal is not around;

f) the main Opposition party, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) called for an inquiry into allegations by a Malaysian prince, Raja Petra Kamaruddin in his hugely popular blog, Malaysia Today on the close collaboration between organized crime syndicates and the Malaysian Police, including the highest cop in the land, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP);

g) the IGP hastily called for an urgent meeting of officers resulting in them declaring their support for him in the face of allegations;

h) will anything extraordinary happen today as the sensational Altantuya murder case resumes once again on this day?

i) will anything else sensational happen in Malaysia?

Salute to the Courage of the Mongols!

Yesterday, in a court in Malaysia, the biggest trial, after Anwar Ibrahim's, in our Malaysian history began.

It was the perfectly Hollywood-scripted tragic high drama case of the brutal murder of a hapless foreigner, a highly intelligent Mongolian beauty who was callously shot and blown to pieces with special explosives by Malaysian Police commandos around October 19th and October 20th last year.

In the dock were three persons- two commandos, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 31 and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 36 and a civilian, Razak Baginda, 47 a well-known political consultant and adviser to Malaysia's, Deputy Prime Minister, Abdul Razak. Razak Baginda is accused of abatement in the crime. They face the death penalty if found guilty.

Amazingly, the opening session ended quickly!

At the eleventh hour, the prosecution team was changed!

The case was adjourned to two weeks' time.

Here are some small words of comfort found in the writings of my favorite poet, the late Patience Strong for the dear grief-stricken bereaved family of Altantuya Shaariibuu.

What do you do when your heart has been broken?
What do you do when there's nothing much left?
... What do you do when your world starts to crumble-leaving you lifeless, of all hope bereft?
What do you do? Do you drug your hurt spirit-by numbing the mind in your longing for peace? That way lie dead ends, despair and frustration. No comfort there-no relief or release.
What do you do? You face up to your trouble-believing that somewhere behind all the pain-there is a reason, a plan and a purpose-and strength you receive for beginning again.

This extract below is courtesy of bigdogdot.com

UNSOLVED MYSTERY 6: Who are disturbing our dead at night???

Something fishy and even scary is going on at night in Sarawak while everyone is fast asleep in bed... Numerous places of the dead have been disturbed and tombs have been broken into and graves have been disturbed for a number of years now.

The disturbances have occurred in both animist and Christian cemeteries. Personally, I was relieved that my dad's grave in a cemetery close to our city was not disturbed recently but it was sad and upsetting to see over 20 graves nearby were desecrated.

To date, no one has been caught for all the disturbances.

The painful psychological effects on affected family members who either see their loved ones in various stages of decomposition or their resting places desecrated have been horrendous, as expected.

This begs 3 out of many other big questions:
a) Why couldn't offers of rewards be made by NGOs or the government to entice folks
with information on these hanky panky going-ons to offer tips to the cops???
b) With its reputation in jungle warfare, couldn't the army or its commandos be
called upon to attempt some form of night surveillance, and eventually catch
these evil-doers, bloody scourge of the earth once and for all??? With some of the latest gadgets that modern armies have, launching operations would have a high success rate. I've personally tried on the night goggles in Canada and they worked superbly!
c) Why are animist and Christian resting places targeted by these despicable scums?

In this sensational hair-raising report by the Sarawak Tribune dated 2/5/2003, there is evidence that witchcraft may be involved as some jewelries were left untouched by the raiders. The neighboring country would be Indonesia as it has the worst reputation for sorcery.

BRUNO IS STILL ALIVE! Or isn't he? How could a happy man living in a comfortable First World peaceful and beautiful country like Switzerland throw it all away to live in a bug-infested disease-ridden tropical jungle with ferocious wild animals such as poisonous cobras and fierce gnashing sharp-tooth bears?

He could only answer that himself. I do believe though that he fell in love with the jungle and its most primitive nomadic tribe, the Penans.

When I first met him in Miri in 1984, he sounded really enthusiastic about his time with the gentle folks in Ulu Baram.

He shared with me candidly his favorite past-time of caving and other speleological activities and his life with his domestic animals up in the Swiss alps, his concern for the heavy deforestation of tropical rainforests everywhere and the disturbing callous disregard for Mother Nature. It was classic Bruno-trusting and honest about everything. There wasn't a single hint of his decision to remain in the thick Sarawak jungle at all.

The rest, as they say, is history. He stayed behind. He was caught for overstaying, deported, came back again and was never seen or heard from again.

Coming soon: The Borneo Post report on his disappearance...and the latest from his family...

(Part 1)

One late sunny afternoon in 1984, as I drove past the Miri District office, I noticed a grinning bearded European, dressed in army fatigues squatting near it.

"Holy smoke! Maybe it's Jesus!" I muttered to myself.

It could very well be him to save us all from the madness. 1984 was indeed a miserable year. Malaysian kids were gradually learning almost everything in Malay and English was being frowned upon by the authorities as a colonial legacy. Even the freedom to worship was affected with the banning of the Alkitab, the Holy Bible that had been translated into Malay for the local Evangelical Church's Malay-educated members to use.

Added to this misery was the action of an idiotic police inspector who trampled on our human rights and used a road block to detain for over 12 hours whatever vehicles the police disliked. My Datsun pulsar had two small fog lamps, fixtures which were part of the vehicle, on it. Over 20 vehicles were detained in a cramped small traffic depot by the seaside.

In that year, 1984, I was a church-going, smartly dressed slim young man with a clean-cut hairdo, working as a book-keeper for the Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) which came under the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF). The Evangelical Church of Borneo (SIB) was nurtured by this Mission, which was headed by a wonderful brilliant French-Jewish director, Brian Michell.

Okay, I got you there, angry, anti-semitic turkeys! Actually, he's a Caucasian with French and Jewish ancestry.

Anyway, we'll leave him out of this story because I've never mentioned my acquaintance with Bruno. He would be shocked and astonished to read about this if he ever surfs into this blog, I'm sure.

Part 2 -To be continued.

My All-Time Favorite Radio Deejay-Patrick Teoh aka "The Voice"

Hey, if one of our best funny man, Lat draws him, you know this guy has gotta be the best in the business! Let's open our own truly independent private radio station, hire him with an astronomical pay and let all those *&^%$#@ wet blankets and critics scream and tear their dirty hair out!

Cartoon extracted from New Straits Times, 1/30/96.