Pascal Najadi has expressed shock over the murder of his father.”I was shocked upon hearing about the killing in Kuala Lumpur, which was carried out in broad daylight,” he toldBernama in a telephone interview from Europe.
Arab-Malaysian Bank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi was gunned down in Kuala Lumpur today, Police said. Kuala Lumpur Deputy CID Chief Khairi Ahrasa told Bernama the couple was attacked from behind by two assailants.
The attack took place in a car park near the Kuan Yin Temple on Lorong Ceylon at 2pm. Hussain was with his wife at the time. Hussain, 75, was shot twice on the torso while his wife, 49, was shot on the arm and leg. He succumbed to his injuries while his seriously injured wife has been warded.
Khairi said preliminary investigations suggested that three men aged between 35 and 40 years were waiting for Hussain outside the temple.
The former banker and financier was said to have met a friend at the temple to discuss business matters. “The suspects escaped in a taxi. The motive is yet to be established but it is believed to be related to business,” Khairi said.
A witness told the national news agency that he heard more than five shots being fired. Hussain is an Iranian with permanent residency status.
Malaysian authorities to do their utmost to apprehend the culprits involved in the killing of his father and bring them to justice.
Pascal, 45, who is also a banker, said the irony was that his father was murdered in Malaysia, a country for which he had so much affection, having called it home for more than four decades. He said he came to know about the killing, a few hours after it took place and that he was also informed by the MalaysianPolice.
Hussain founded Arab Malaysian Banking Group in 1975 before it changed hands in 1982, to what is known as Arab Malaysian Bank or Ambank.
First a Customs Deputy DG gets hit with a bullet right in the administrative capital. It cost him his precious life.
Then comes the assassination attempt on R. Sri Sanjeevan who is now fighting for his life with a bullet lodged in his rib cage.
And even before we can get a grip of these shocking shootings in a country where arms are illegal, yet another broad daylight murder with a gun has taken place.
We hear that in the open car park right here in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur the Founder of ARAB Malaysian Development Bank, Hussain Ahmad, was pumped with bullets and killed. And at lunch hour rush time, mind you.
Now the top guns of the country are rushing to warn the public not to speculate and are dishing out conclusive statements – never mind if the statements contradict one another. After all there is the escape clause, “the media misquoted”.
What speculation? There is none. The public being patriotic citizens are just plain damn concerned. Can the powers that be not see that?
And why not concerned? It does not need the training and mind of Sherlock Holmes to figure out. Plain common sense demands answers to the question how come a small nation like ours that is very strict about arms possession is now witnessing assassinations and gun-point murders in the country?
The public are saying, “Look it is happening in broad daylight.”
Yes, the gun-toting killers are doing it right in front of public eyes. They are not even bothered about the CCTVs that the police said were meant to deter would be criminals. And these killings are happening at rush hours too.
People are asking, in the first place where did all these guns come from? How come it seems so easy to take lives away especially when the victims are such high-profile figures? And who are these ‘hired killers’ – assuming that they were paid to get the job done?
3 assassinations in 7 months
Just in a time frame of seven months to the year, we have seen three assassinations – Customs Deputy Director General Shaharuddin Ibrahim in April; R. Sri Sanjeevan of MyWatch over the weekend of July; and now at the start of the week it is the Iranian and Founder of a bank.
Now if the public ask “who is next?” is that also speculation?
Look, we have reached a point in our nation where the security of the nation is at risk with the increasing shoot-to-kill crimes while public safety continues to remain threatened.
Public protests and demands for transparency, accountability, fair and free elections and justice are not security threats. Denying those calls for a better nation-administration is what threatens this nation. When will the Najib administration stand up, owe up and empower this nation to transform into a safer country?
Even if the cases in question are established as revenge or wrong identity or whatever, the public have the right to know how come gun-toting killers are so readily available in a country that sends you to the gallows for illegal arms possession.
In any other nation where public accountability and patriotism is high, by now the people would have swung into action and demanded immediate answers or the head of national security and public safety steps down until decisive, convincing action is rolled into place.
We are not talking about gang clashes. We are not talking about underworld verses underworld. We are plain bloody concerned when citizens who are in service to His Majesty the Yang DiPertuan Agung and who have contributed immensely to the financial and economic development of Malaysia and those who are championing a commitment to clean up Malaysia are being removed with the gun.
Can we condone this?
But here, life goes on as usual. Well, after all the police have warned the public to shut up. The Home Minister has threatened to take action at citizens who are out to cause mischief.
Meanwhile at the warongs and corporate corridors, it is your guess as good as mine, “who next?”. Or for some it is a case of “why so busybody lah, MYOB is better these days”.
ems as if we are becoming as dangerous as some South American nations where gun violence seems to be the norm.
It’s just not confined to one or two areas but is happening across the nation.
Three shootings in two days. A 25-year-old man, Jasrafveendeerjeet Singh, was shot in front of a restaurant in Ipoh at 10.15pm. Another man, G. Santhana Samy, 30, was wounded in the thigh when he stopped at a traffic light in Butterworth at 8.30pm.
And in Kuala Lumpur, Arab-Malaysian Development Bank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi died from multiple bullet wounds. He was shot in Lorong Ceylon while walking with his wife to his car in broad daylight.
These incidents followed the murder attempt of MyWatch chairman R. Sri Sanjeevan in Seremban on Saturday who was shot when his car stopped at the traffic lights.
The police response: the setting-up of yet another “high-powered” task force to investigate the crime. Actually, we have lost count of how many high-owered or high-level committees and task forces have been set up to investigate the various shooting crimes.
In fact, we are still waiting for some indication of the progress made by the task force set up in May to hunt down those responsible for the spate of shooting cases then, including the murder of Customs deputy director-general Datuk Shaharuddin Ibrahim.
Federal CID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin had announced that the special CID task force, headed by Federal principal assistant director of Serious Crime (D9) Senior Asst Comm Datuk Huzir Mohamed would identify and arrest the criminals.
At the same time, Penang police have also set up a separate task force to probe a series of shootings, which left at least four people dead over the past five months.
From seemingly ordinary Joes to prominent people being gunned down, the public can’t help but wonder whether we are on a rapid slide to a state of lawlessness. The sense of insecurity and nervousness is definitely growing.
Apart from gun-toting criminals, robbers are crashing restaurants to rob the patrons en masse.
Eateries that used to operate till the wee hours are now closing early; there are way fewer people who want to risk being robbed while having supper.
Even snatch thieves have grown more vicious and brazen. They do not just grab but often slash their victims to incapacitate them, making their getaway easier.
In such a state of affairs, we are almost relieved to read of cases where the “victim” is an ATM. The thieves who hack away and drag out these cash-vending machines seem almost harmless and preferable to those who prey on people.
Undoubtedly, the police have their hands full. Theirs is no easy task with no easy solutions. So far, they are focusing on identifying weapons smugglers to try to root out the source of gun-related crimes.
But more action and arrests are what is desperately needed because the ferocity and the increasing number of assassinations are striking fear in all of us.
Our top cops may continue to try to assure us that our nation is still very safe but unfortunately, that’s just not good enough.
On October 31, 1984, her body guards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh shot Indira Gandhi as she was on her way to meet Peter Ustinov, a famous British TV personality.It was more than 20 days after the anti-Sikh riots were quelled that Rajiv Gandhi made reference to the ‘mighty tree’ as a means of explaining the sheer illogic of retribution against the killing of a leader who had famously said “Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic.”
The mightiest heart was however shown by Indira Gandhi who was persistently handed dire warnings to change her Sikh bodyguards.
She had outright refused.
History is full of instances where family members have killed one another for wealth, power or out of sheer envy. But the most common murder among all such cases has been fratricide…
When news reports suggested that the Chadha brothers — Ponty and Hardeep — had perhaps not killed each other, but been the victim of a third party’s bullets, one felt a strange sense of relief. The idea of fratricide disturbs and threatens to disrupt the basic values we build our lives on! For that matter equally disturbing is sororicide (killing a sister), filicide (killing one’s child), patricide (killing one’s father) or matricide (killing one’s mother). All murders are horrendous and unnatural, but these are unbelievable! Even as I write, a 16-year-old in Haryana has killed her mother because she wouldn’t allow her to marry her 23-year-old lover! If your own flesh-and-blood cannot be depended upon, who else would you trust?
And yet of all these cases, however horrific they may be, fratricide has always been the most common. Brother killing a brother, or for that matter, many brothers, was the basis of many an empire in history. Fratricide is reported as the first type of murder in human history by the Bible and the Quran. Of the two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain was the first human born and also the first murderer who killed his brother Abel, the first human to die. Mughal emperors routinely killed their brothers in their fight for the throne; King Asoka too killed all his brothers. It was an established practice in the Ottoman Empire to kill all the Sultan’s brothers as soon as he produced a male heir. Rome was founded after Romulus killed his brother Remus.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the story of a young prince demented by his father’s murder by his brother Claudius, who then marries the king’s widow. Money, power or romantic liaisons have been the cause, and jealousy the motivating factor behind cases of fratricide. If in barbarian times, kings killed to get their way, today in ostensibly more civilized times, rich businessmen cut each other out and break off ties with brothers in a more restrained manner, until an incident like Ponty-Hardeep strips the civilized veneer to expose the fundamental emotions that still rage within.
Brother killing brother is a parent’s worst nightmare, and yet it is parents who are responsible for laying the foundation of the relationship siblings share as they grow up. What parents do to promote harmony, and to discourage sibling rivalry, is vital to how sibling relationships will play out later. Parents need to be aware that they have to play an active role to this end, and not just let relationships drift! Feelings of insecurity and jealousy are natural amongst siblings. An insensitive and unthinking response from parents can tilt the balance to a lifetime of rivalry and dislike. Scolding and humiliating one child for hurting or showing down a sibling will only entrench such behaviour. It is better to understand the child’s insecurity and address the issue by giving equal time and importance to both children.
Sometimes in order to inculcate discipline, parents compare one child to another, which is unforgivable! Never praise a child at the expense of another. Children should be taught to respect each other’s differences, strengths and weaknesses and actively taught anger management. Inculcate family values, the importance of togetherness and loving each other. They should be told that friends may come and go, but siblings are forever and a great support system when things go wrong. Children should be taught to stand up for each other and to share in each other’s successes and failures.
Introduce certain family practices such as dinner together at the same table, celebrating festivals together, praying together or a nightly family gossip session. It could be something as simple as a drive for ice cream every Sunday, or sitting around a bonfire on winter weekend nights, or playing scrabble, dumb charades, chess, whatever! Habits die hard and these moments of togetherness are what cement love and relationships in later years. In moments of stress between siblings, an old habit or memory could help bring back the shared warmth and love of childhood.
Especially for privileged families, it is very important to teach children values that too much money and power may lead them to forget in the later years. They have to be taught at an early age that they have special duties and responsibilities because they are privileged. Children must be taught the importance of giving back and sharing. Being made aware of the lesser-privileged classes and the importance of charity work is important to keep them grounded. Parents must be especially careful to drive home to children the importance of love and relationships and the transience of life and material possessions; of the criticality of keeping in touch with one’s own true self, and being true to your loved ones as well!
If the grounding and values are solid and the foundation for a deep affection strong, how can a brother even think of killing a brother for something as transient as wealth or power?
