The Kg Taman Aman Incident - A victim's account

On September 18 1995 Monday morning, I rushed to the Kg Taman Aman after receiving a call from Dr Oon Hong Geok, the State Assemblywoman of Damansara Utama. She told me that the kampung folks have informed her that their village has been surrounded by the FRU and the workers were ready to demolish their homes.

Upon arrival, I saw the FRU and police have sealed off the entrance to the village. I approached an FRU officer by the name of Yusri and identified myself as Ronnie Liu of the DAP, and wanted to speak to the officer in charge. He told me that the FRU officer in charge was Suleiman before he allowed me to go in.

I immediately looked for Hamdan, the action committee chairman (who was also the local UMNO branch leader). He was nowhere to be found. Some women and children were seen crying. No one seemed to now what to do next. The villagers were complaining to me that the FRU were very rude to them and in fact many of the villagers were beaten up by them. They claimed that the FRU waited outside the village as early as 3 am in the morning before they moved in together with the land office personnel at around 7 am. They also told me that they have applied an injunction with the Shah Alam Court and their case should be up for hearing in a few days.

Dr Syed Husin Ali, the PRM Chairman and his wife Puan Sabariah arrived at the village. I suggested to him that we could try to speak to the land office personnel and the police to negotiate for a postponement of demolition pending the court order. He agreed to my suggestion and we both decided to meet the officers in charge for a negotiation. 

Two of the villagers led us to the demolition "hotspot". We waved to the workers to indicate them to stop their machines so that we can talk to the officer in charge. When work stopped, we approached the personnel from the land office and asked if they had the warrant from the court for the demolition. Nobody wanted to identify with us or give us any answer. We then appealed to them to stop the demolition pending the court order. This was when Suleiman approached us and we immediately identified ourselves briefly. He refused to shake my hands and refused to listen to us. He suddenly raised his voice and ordered his men to charge at us. A few FRU members (including Mansor and Ramly) took his order and started beating me with batons and kicks. They beat me to the ground and continued to hit me and kicked me. This madness must have gone on for no less than 4 minutes! 

The FRU broke my head, causing blood to flow down my face. My white T-shirt turned into a red one within minutes. Suleiman just stood by and did nothing to stop his men from assaulting me. I was handcuffed from the back and taken to the police car by two policemen. They drove me to the SS2 police station and wanted to lock me up there. I refused to alight and I insisted that they must send me to the hospital for treatment at once as I was still bleeding. They sent me to the University Hospital after consulting someone, probably their senior. But they simply refused to take off my handcuffs despite repeated argument from me, that they have no rights to treat me like a criminal.

Upon arriving at the UH, I requested the policemen to call the DAP headquarters or my lawyer but to no avail. Even the medical personnel dared not help me to make a call. I made the same request with the doctor who was sent to treat me but he too was too afraid to make a call. The policemen even refused to take off my handcuffs in order to receive a proper treatment! At this point, I refused to receive any treatment from the doctor unless and until my handcuffs were off. Finally, an administrator came and she immediately helped me to call the DAP headquarters. She allowed me to speak to my HQ staff Ms Lee Kee Hiong myself. But she too failed to convince the policemen to take off my handcuffs for proper medical treatment. I have no choice but to refuse any treatment. 

Dr Oon Hong Geok and another DAP leader Pakianathan came to the UH about an hour later and they too insisted that my handcuffs must be taken off before treatment. 

The doctor has taken several photographs of my injuries before treatment and X-ray. I was hospitalised and guarded by the police throughout my stay in the UH.

This incident has casted a few lasting impression on me, that:

• The abuse of power by the police force has reached an alarming level. The Malaysian public must be fully aware that the police may not be our protector but aggressor.
• The members of the public (including professionals like doctors) do not know their rights. They seem to believe that the police are almighty and simply cannot be questioned at all.
• The so-called "caring society" advocated by the Barisan Nasional government is mere slogan and lip service. They were reluctant to take care of the interest and welfare of the people, even if these people are their party members. Many of the effected kampung folks in Kg Taman Aman were UMNO, MCA and MIC members.
• The BN government will sacrifice the interest and wellbeing of the ordinary people to reap profits in the name of development.
• The ordinary people must realise that they must stand up for their rights and fight for justice. Otherwise, they will forever live in the shadow of the high-handed powers that be.
  

I have decided to take the police to task and demand for some disciplinary actions against the black sheep of the police force. We hope the police force has the determination to reform itself and become the true protector of the people.

 Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew
(Ronnie's suit against the police for assaulting him seven years ago will be mentioned at the Shah Alam Sessions Court on July 5, 2002)