How Great Thou Art

I made an early trip down to KK today to return the Celcom Broadband modem to get my refund (which by the way, will only be returned to me after 4 months, whee -_-) and had a long walk around the city. When I finally got back to Padang Merdeka to get back up to the mountain *sigh*, I noticed that the usual bus/cab area was blocked out and there were loads of police.. Only until I was in my van and talking to the local in front of me who mentioned "Tak tahu jam berapa Najib datang" ("don't know what time Najib comes") did I realize that our not so dear Prime Minister was to visit the place.

"Whot?"

My first impression of Mr. Najib was not a pleasant one, during his pre-Prime Minister days (chewah talk like I know him). It relates to one Abdul Razak Baginda, who was a talk show host for one of those videos I watched for my Biotech subjects in class once. I remembered the face and name because the name "Baginda" sounded rather catchy.

Abdul Razak Baginda: Yeap, that's me

This all pieced together when I came across this case:

"In an earlier case, a company the opposition claimed was linked to Razak Baginda, an adviser to Mr Najib, was paid juicy fees for services provided over a contract for the purchase of French submarines. A Mongolian woman, said to have worked as a translator in the negotiations, was shot dead and her corpse destroyed with explosives in 2006. Mr Razak was put on trial over her killing, along with two policemen. The case has dragged on for months and seen various odd goings-on, including changes of judge, prosecutors and defence lawyers at the start of the trial. A private detective signed a statutory declaration implicating Mr Najib, retracted it the next day, saying it had been made under duress. Calls by the victim’s family for Mr Najib to testify were rejected. On October 31st the judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to make a prima facie case against Mr Razak."

(November 6th 2008, The Economist)

This was the "Mongolian woman"

Pretty huh? I decided to use a different picture than the usual plane frontal-passport-style photo that just looks depressing. I'm sure she'd appreciate it, since she was quite a fashionable young lady.

"As Najib has repeatedly declared his innocence of any involvement in the Altantuya C4 murder case, he must act decisively to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to lay all the swirling allegations about his involvement in the murder case which are haunting and hounding him, his administration and the nation’s good name, to rest once and for all – whether about the accessibility of C4 explosives, the disappearance of Altantuya immigration records, the exchange of SMS messages or the disappearance of private investigator Bala Subramaniam after making public a very damaging statutory declaration about Najib."

(Malaysia Today, 9th April 2009)

The late Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa, who was murdered and blown up with a C4 and until now, never avenged. But, vengeance is the Lord's, and I believe someday what is hidden will be made known. I'm listening to a version of "How Great Thou Art" by Carrie Underwood, and it's splendid. It assures me that God is in control.

As the man who made known to me Najib's coming spoke those words, I sense an undertone of condemnation, very much contrary to the respect due toward a Prime Minister. I don't blame him.