Ex-top cop joined PAS after being courted by top trio

Former Bukit Aman criminal investigation department (CID) director Fauzi Shaari said he made his move to join PAS at the invitation of its top leaders but not straightaway.

Shaari, who become a PAS man on May 20, said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, his deputy Mohamad Sabu or Mat Sabu as he is popularly known, and vice-president Husam Musa extended the invitation.

Fauzi said he initially rejected the invitation from Mat Sabu and Abdul Hadi due to his age and family considerations.

But then, he gave it much thought after being courted again. This time by Husam, who is also a senior Kelantan executive councillor.

"After discussions, Husam said my entry to PAS could add value and, in some way, help the party. So I thought I will join the party officially," Fauzi said.

He added that PAS leaders had told him his position as a former senior police officer could help swing fence-sitters to the party.

Recollecting his entry into PAS during a ceremony at Hulu Sepetang, near his birth place of Batu Kurau, Taiping, Fauzi said he received a welcome reserved for bridegrooms.

However, Fauzi, who has chalked 32 years with the police force, said his decision to join the Islamic party subjected him to a lot of pressure.

"To keep it short, there were many who objected (to my intention to join PAS). The majority supported me, but those objecting in some way also exerted pressure on the people around me.

"Sometimes they did not engage with or attack me directly, instead turned on my wife and she felt the pressure," he said.

Crosshairs turned on close kin

This, he said, made him avoid interviews or ceramah for a month and, once, he even decided on a trip to Singapore to "cool down" the situation.

However, Fauzi dismissed the pressure exerted on him as nothing compared to the death threats he received as Dang Wangi OCPD, spawned by his efforts in combating crime.

Explaining his career in the police force, Fauzi said it began in school when he took a liking to uniforms, which stayed with him even when he entered Universiti Malaya (UM).

"My friends called me 'general', not only when I was in university but also in school because when any issue arises, I like to become a 'general'," he said, adding that hie came from a family of farmers and rubber tappers.

Fauzi received his early education at Sekolah Kebangsaan Pasir Besar in 1957-1962 before taking on secondary education at Sekolah King Edward VII at Taiping in 1963-1970.

He entered UM in 1971 and graduated in history in 1974, before briefly working as a rubber tapper and teaching at three schools while waiting for a reply to his application to join the police force.

Thinking that he had been rejected, Fauzi started working as a journalist at Angkasapuri in 1975 - and then suddenly received a surprise call for an interview.

And the final chapter of that part of his life story came to a close on Sept 25, 2006, when he officially retired as one of the most senior police officers in the country.

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