Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is correct when he said in Bangkok yesterday that when he was jailed, he had to sleep on the cement floor for weeks before doctors advised that he should be given a bed due to his back condition. I was jailed in Kajang Prison on 24 August 1998 under the Sedition Act and Printing Presses and Publication Act for trying to defend an underaged Malay rape victim who was detained instead of her rapists. I was also sleeping on the cement floor for weeks with a thin blanket before a thin mattress was finally offered to me.
Anwar has rubbished claims by former Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s supporters that Najib was entitled to be transferred to the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital (HRC) because Anwar was given the same treatment while serving his sentence. Anwar said he was only sent to the HRC after serving more than 10 years in solitary confinement and that too on the advice of medical specialists after he had a major shoulder surgery. Anwar added if Najib wanted to be treated the same way, then Najib must serve 10 years first, then be brought to the HRC.
This is the best answer to MCA leaders supporting the special treatment accorded to Najib, with a MCA Deputy Minister even asking why detractors want to see Najib be tortured and suffer in prison. If Najib is tortured in prison, PH leaders including ex-prisoners like Anwar and myself will be the first to defend him. But has MCA any evidence that Najib is being tortured? The issue is the special treatment given to Najib that was never accorded to Anwar or me when we were in Sungai Buloh and Kajang Prison respectively.
MCA has always been enablers of both Najib and corruption. MCA has benefited from receiving 1MDB funds. MCA President Wee Ka Siong said in 2013 that the Chinese community hoped for more Najibs in UMNO. Najib is probably the first prisoner to be sent to HRC within a month of his imprisonment beginning on 23 August, which even ordinary citizens find difficulty getting warded. Will MCA fight for all prisoners to be accorded the same privileges?