Thugs attack political analyst's house

A group of thugs attacked the house of political analyst Ong Kian Ming earlier this afternoon, though they failed to break into it despite breaking the front gate.

“Three thugs just tried to break into my house, broke my gate, used intimidation tactics, then left,” read his tweet at about 4.50pm.

Ong (left) suspects that the attack was “politically motivated” and not a common robbery attempt.

“This is the kind of country we live in, when u r attacked for criticizing certain political parties & the govt. But I will not be cowed,” read another tweet from him.

Ong later lodged a police report at the SS2 Seapark police station.

Contacted by Malaysiakini, he related the incident which he said is an attempt to intimidate him.

“It happened at about 4.45pm, three Indians in a brown Wira stopped in front of my house, I believe it was targetted at me, they knew exactly which house to attack.

“They broke my automatic gate and got inside and tried to break open the front door, even though they knew I was inside. I shouted at them.

“Failing to break the front door, they left. But one of them waved a finger at me, like a warning, and then hit the bonnet of my car.”

He believed that the attack was directly related to his recent criticisms of government agency Pemandu, MCA and the Chinese party’s Labis MP Chua Tee Yong on micro-blog Twitter and other platforms.

Though he said that he cannot positively prove this, Ong said that the aggressive and targetted nature of the attack was clearly meant to intimidate him.

Ong also praised the police for their swift response to his call for help, arriving just five minutes after the incident.

Undue attention from undesirable elements

The political analyst is not the only person whose fiery criticisms against the establishment seemed to have earned them undue attention from undesirable elements.

PKR vice-president N Surendran (left) also received a warning via SMS earlier today.

He claimed to have received the SMS messagethreatening an acid attackagainst him for his vocal criticisms of MIC.

Surendran had lodged a police report over the matter at the Jalan Travers police station earlier today.

Another PKR official, strategic director Rafizi Ramli, was also told to be more careful about his safety by his concerned supporters.

Rafizi was the man behind the explosive revelations about alleged abuses involving the National Feedlot Corporation linked to former federal minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family and the recent expose on alleged improprieties in the award of the Ampang LRT extension project.

However, he took the matter in stride, seeing it as his duty to fulfill the wishes of the rakyat.
        
“In times like these, I am always reminded of Tolkien’s great words, spoken by Gandalf, that while we may have the greatest concerns of what may lie ahead, all we have to decide is what to do with the time given to us.

“And so my friends; please be at ease knowing that I will be extra vigilant. What can or may happen is beyond us. I only ask for prayers while I enjoy every bit of this adventure,” assured Rafizi in a posting on his blog.