Tiger Datuk Abdul Razak Musa

I come from a school called King Edward VII in Taiping and we call each other Tiger this and Tiger that because the tiger is a big part of the school emblem. We are fiercely loyal to our alma mater and to each other when it comes to comparison with other secondary schools.

The first time I met Tiger Datuk Abdul Razak Musa in person was about a year and a half ago in an old boys meeting at the Curve, PJ. The OBA was looking for someone of integrity and standing to chair a committee for a proposed trust fund for the old school. I was his senior at school and therefore did not know him well personally. He was a quiet and unassuming man; did not talk very much that day. It was certainly not the first time one of our own has risen to a position of distinction but nevertheless we were proud of his achievement. 

At the time, the MACC was already very much in the public spotlight and the skepticism about its impartiality was already apparent. In any case, Tiger Abdul Razak Musa is one of our own so we MUST give him the benefit of the doubt!

We did not meet again after that first time but I did notice him in the news occasionally. However, in the last couple of weeks he has suddenly shot to fame in the Teoh Beng Hock inquest for all the wrong reasons.

I followed the proceedings that fateful day (18th August, 2010) on the Malaysian Insider tweets and remember cringing at the words that were being reported almost real-time. Obviously he was doing his job by trying to discredit Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand which is supposedly as good a strategy as any. It was the way he went about doing it that was surprising. He had instead ended up discrediting himself, the MACC, our education system and worse of all the nation! I remember thinking this shit will hit the fan and with all the bad Press thereafter, I refrained from watching the video of the incident more so out of Tiger loyalty and deference than anything else! 

This morning, I chanced upon the series of court videos and decided to watch them. After that, I am even more appalled by Tiger Abdul Razak Musa's performance. Maybe he would be more comfortable if he had used Bahasa Malaysia instead, but it was not all about language. He appeared clueless! Not only did Dr Pornthip's answers make mincemeat of his questions, it reminded me of an Asian Schools Rugby Tournament game I played in, in Hatyai, December 1978. Eventual champion, Thailand's Vajiravudh College beat us soundly and thoroughly!

It was a game I would want to forget and I think Tiger Razak Musa would want to forget 18th August, 2010 too.

You judge for yourself:

Part 1



Part 2



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Part 8