1 September 2017

Aide: Tunku cried like a child when May 13 riots broke

by cavina lim

.

GEORGE TOWN: The late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj’s love for his country was so immense that he sobbed like a child when the May 13 riots broke, one of his closest aides recalled.

Former Asst Supt of Police Owen Chung, who was Tunku’s aide-de-camp, said the episode illustrated how much national unity meant to the nation’s Bapa Malaysia.

“Tunku would only shed tears when he was truly sad. He confided in me his sorrows.

“The riots made him feel like all his hard work and efforts to unite the people were wasted and had gone down the drain.

“He never wanted the Malays and Chinese to fight each other,” he said in an interview in conjunction with the 60th National Day at his residence in Bell Road here yesterday.

The 85-year-old Chung, who still sports his trademark handlebar moustache, said the first prime minister had never expected anything in return for his efforts.

“He said we must get the Malays, Chinese, Indians, and even the Eura­sians to be united. Then only will the country prosper. He was not out to make a buck,’’ said Chung, the great-grandson of Kapi­tan Chung Keng Kwee who was a leader of the Chinese community in Penang and Perak in the late 1800s.
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/09/01/aide-tunku-cried-like-a-child-when-may-13-riots-broke-for-more-stories/#ojiK70wSOKyptUhz.99