By Nathaniel Tan,
Hi all. Been (really) enjoying a short break… :)
Amongst the things I missed was the unfolding RPK drama.
I think I will focus my comments around one issue: his TV3 comments on how he himself “never made any accusations”. The snippet is at about 1.18 of the video below, and the verbatim quote is pasted below.
“Di dalam sd saya tadi saya telah bercerita bahawasanya orang ini telah beritahu dan biarlah orang ini yang datang dan bercerita. Dan pihak berkuasa perlu siasat dan panggillah orang ini. Itu yang saya tulis dalam sd. Saya sendiri tidak timbulkan apa-apa tuduhan. Saya tidak kata saya tahu yang isteri timbalan perdana menteri semasa itu ada di tempat kejadian. Saya tidak cakap. Saya tidak buat satu tuduhan seperti berikut. Yang saya kata ada orang yang bercerita tetapi bergantung kepada pihak berkuasalah untuk menyiasat perkara ini lebih lanjut lagi dan untuk orang-orang ini kedepan. Dan saya sebut nama-nama orang ini. Saya sebut semasa siasatan polis.”
In the maelstorm that is Malaysian politics, it has been… interesting to observe the moral compasses of various individuals throughout time.
Obviously, here is not a time/place to comment at length on such things.
Having seen and heard all that RPK has said about Altantuya’s murder (represented most easily perhaps by the famous article that got him in trouble) over the years, my thoughts over what he expressed above is probably best summarised by this video:
Clinton tried to escape on a technicality, and if you want to talk technical details, RPK’s assertion that he never made a direct accusation may be construed to be true.
However, any attempt to deny that a large number of things he said and wrote were fully intended to imply (in no uncertain terms) involvement of both Najib and Rosmah in the murder of Altantuya deserves, in my own view, to be frowned upon.
I recently began watching Battlestar Galactica. First season, second episode, towards the end, there’s a simple line about how a man has to accept responsibility for his actions.
Again, it has been… educational to watch the different roads many of us have walked down, especially since 2008. I think I have some appreciation of how difficult it is to stay on the straight and narrow, to remain consistent, and to keep one’s moral compass clear.
There actually a few things I agreed with to some extent in the interview, but for the above: I think there is little honour in saying years after the fact “I didn’t say it, somebody told me, and I’m just reporting what I heard”. It dishonours either one’s informant, one’s readers who’ve clearly understood otherwise, or both.
Of course, knowing RPK and his bravado (although speaking of bravado I’m not sure how “And I would not hesitate to deny my body food and water as an act of defiance just to prove to my jailors that they may incarcerate my body but they can never own my mind or break my spirit.” really jives with the decisions made thus far), I wouldn’t be surprised if sometime later he turns around and says “Oh, this was all part of my plan to trap them, etc etc”.
I shaved my head when RPK was arrested under the ISA in 2008, and shaved it has been since – a reminder of those who remain detained without trial.
My dad likes to say: friends are friends, business is business. I would like all to remain intact, but I suppose without our integrity, we would be mere Ronin.
Amongst the things I missed was the unfolding RPK drama.
I think I will focus my comments around one issue: his TV3 comments on how he himself “never made any accusations”. The snippet is at about 1.18 of the video below, and the verbatim quote is pasted below.
“Di dalam sd saya tadi saya telah bercerita bahawasanya orang ini telah beritahu dan biarlah orang ini yang datang dan bercerita. Dan pihak berkuasa perlu siasat dan panggillah orang ini. Itu yang saya tulis dalam sd. Saya sendiri tidak timbulkan apa-apa tuduhan. Saya tidak kata saya tahu yang isteri timbalan perdana menteri semasa itu ada di tempat kejadian. Saya tidak cakap. Saya tidak buat satu tuduhan seperti berikut. Yang saya kata ada orang yang bercerita tetapi bergantung kepada pihak berkuasalah untuk menyiasat perkara ini lebih lanjut lagi dan untuk orang-orang ini kedepan. Dan saya sebut nama-nama orang ini. Saya sebut semasa siasatan polis.”
In the maelstorm that is Malaysian politics, it has been… interesting to observe the moral compasses of various individuals throughout time.
Obviously, here is not a time/place to comment at length on such things.
Having seen and heard all that RPK has said about Altantuya’s murder (represented most easily perhaps by the famous article that got him in trouble) over the years, my thoughts over what he expressed above is probably best summarised by this video:
Clinton tried to escape on a technicality, and if you want to talk technical details, RPK’s assertion that he never made a direct accusation may be construed to be true.
However, any attempt to deny that a large number of things he said and wrote were fully intended to imply (in no uncertain terms) involvement of both Najib and Rosmah in the murder of Altantuya deserves, in my own view, to be frowned upon.
I recently began watching Battlestar Galactica. First season, second episode, towards the end, there’s a simple line about how a man has to accept responsibility for his actions.
Again, it has been… educational to watch the different roads many of us have walked down, especially since 2008. I think I have some appreciation of how difficult it is to stay on the straight and narrow, to remain consistent, and to keep one’s moral compass clear.
There actually a few things I agreed with to some extent in the interview, but for the above: I think there is little honour in saying years after the fact “I didn’t say it, somebody told me, and I’m just reporting what I heard”. It dishonours either one’s informant, one’s readers who’ve clearly understood otherwise, or both.
Of course, knowing RPK and his bravado (although speaking of bravado I’m not sure how “And I would not hesitate to deny my body food and water as an act of defiance just to prove to my jailors that they may incarcerate my body but they can never own my mind or break my spirit.” really jives with the decisions made thus far), I wouldn’t be surprised if sometime later he turns around and says “Oh, this was all part of my plan to trap them, etc etc”.
I shaved my head when RPK was arrested under the ISA in 2008, and shaved it has been since – a reminder of those who remain detained without trial.
My dad likes to say: friends are friends, business is business. I would like all to remain intact, but I suppose without our integrity, we would be mere Ronin.
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