Who was right – Hang Tuah or Hang Jebat? Which one is the true hero?
This was a question posed to a journalist when he was called to the police headquarters for a scare session in 1987, in the wake of Operation Lalang after more than 100 Malaysians had been arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and several newspapers suspended.
It was asked by the then-director of Special Branch, Abdul Rahim Nor, the same guy who went on to become the Inspector-General of Police, and to give Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim a black eye in 1998 while the then deputy prime minister was being held in a police lock-up.
At the time, gripped by the fear that Operation Lalang had inflicted on the entire country, the journalist being questioned was cowed by Rahim; the answer he gave was a lame “I don’t know”.
If it had been me, I would probably have thrown caution to the wind and told the IGP what I thought.
