The tragic and unnecessary death of Muhammad Adib: Time to mourn a Malaysian hero — Rais Hussin

DECEMBER 18 — Quran privileges life over all else. The murder of a single man or a woman is akin to killing the entire humanity, the Quran affirmed. To prevent untoward outbursts of violence, at the individual and collective levels, all hands must be on deck to produce reasonable and civic minded leaders across the partisan divides. 

The death of Muhammad Adib Muhammad Kassim in IJN last night at 9.41pm does warrant the utmost sympathy of all Malaysians. Indeed, all Malaysians without fail.

It is important to value Muhammad Adib for the sake of Muhammad Adib and truth.

After all, this was a life, not merely cut short by the maddening crowd gathered at Seafield in Subang Jaya, but literally the first fatality after the mass riots of May 13, 1969.

When Muhammad Adib arrived at the scene, reports affirmed that he was dragged out of his fire engine.

The focus on mass, rather than racial riot on May 13, would be key, since the causes of the violent happenstance nearly 50 years ago, were never truly specified. 

One should never fall prey to the belief that it was due to race alone. Economic frustrations that came from unequal distribution of wealth could well have been the main catalyst.

Come what may, this is where the immediate recollection of the memory of the victim deserves one’s attention now; before they are sullied by countless extremists who stand ready to pounce on his death as a “racial event”, even though the circumstances were purely criminal. 

First and foremost, how and why did Adib and his colleagues drive into the burning automobiles to douse the fire? The obvious answer would of course be due to his, and their collective, sense of duty. This was the right thing to do. Adib was the first to want to get it right, which was why he was at the front.

But granted that the crowd was mostly of Indian ethnicity — as the incident was indeed near a Hindu temple after all — what gave Muhammad Adib the courage to go in with his fellow firefighters ? 

Now, the next obvious answer, one which many extremists will dispute, is Muhammad Adib’s simple sense of comfort, that Malaysia is safe. That there was no risk associated, at all, with wading into any burning fire or tyres. The fact that Muhammad Adib and his colleagues could exercise their duty firmly and courageously implies that Malaysia can look beyond race. The last thing anyone wants to do — which Umno and PAS or any other extremists certainly can — is to drag the issue of race back in, even as the nation mourns the passing of a brave young man.

Second, contrast this with what is happening in France and Belgium right now, where the Yellow Vest movement is at work.  One has to wonder if the French or Belgian firemen would dare to do what Muhammad Adib and his colleagues did? No. They won’t. 

In fact, all of them would shudder at the thought of going in, dragging their water hoses and all, precisely because they will not feel safe when among fellow French and Belgians who have turned into an unpacifiable mob. 

Now one must remember Muhammad Adib and his team members could go where no one could because it has been taken for granted that ethnic violence is a thing of the past in Malaysia. 

As indeed it is, since the Minister of Home Affairs Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin has referred to it as a criminal land dispute. The Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah has further affirmed that all those criminal brigands would be judged and convicted by the rule of law.

Thirdly, just as Muhammad Adib had sadly passed on, there must be due credit given to Malays, Indians and Chinese, including the doctors and nurses in IJN, who tried to save him too. The media has the responsibility to accentuate the attempts of all races to save Muhammad Adib, but failed.

When Berjaya Group heard of the land dispute, for example, the first instinct of Tan Sri Vincent Tan was to raise the sufficient fund of RM15 million to resolve the squabble. Tan Sri Vincent ‘s daughter is married to a Malay too. That’s how far Malaysia has come too; much as the focus should be on the causes of Muhammad Adib’s death.

During events like this, no one should politicise it as a racial incident. A criminal act of vandalism, one that is only tangentially connected to the land in dispute, has led to an extremely negative blotch on Malaysia.

One hopes that all the legations and embassies in Malaysia would provide the right brief to their respective mission heads. This includes the news channel, social media users and Twitterati. 

All lives do end. But when they do, Prophet Muhammad SAAS also affirmed that they will be in a state of awakeness. Of coming face to face with their hitherto own fragile existence. Malaysia should hold a wake on behalf of Muhammad Adib. Even fly the flag, Jaguh Gemilang, at half mast across all the country, to remind children and adults alike, of the fragility of our multi- cultural and multi-racial peace. And the enabling cause of the death was criminal, not cultural. In this light, all politicians have the responsibilities to get it right for Malaysia and the future next generation. May the soul of Muhammad Adib rest in eternal peace. Al Fatiha.

*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.