20 years on, ex-DPM Musa Hitam recalls how he lost his son to the Highland Towers tragedy

Each year when Christmas draws near and the monsoon rains fall with a vengeance, those who live in Kuala Lumpur especially the older ones tend to remember the Highland Towers tragedy.

I remember the year after the 1993 condo collapse, I was at the Crown Princess hotel not far from the site having lunch with some friends.

Invariably the conversation turned to what had 'really' happened and how were the survivors and their families coping. Would the developers be punished, would those in authority who had been negligent or had taken 'tea money' be made accountable? Would the insurance company pay up?

And then, as always when the Highland Towers is talked about, the name Musa Hitam and how he had cried at the terrible loss of his son cropped up next.

Musa is of course Malaysia's former deputy prime minister. Few can forget the picture of his pain splashed on the broadsheets when he was told that his son and daughter-in-law had perished with dozens of others.

20 years have passed and Musa has learned to live with his grief. But it is clear he has not forgotten. In an interview with the Star, Musa recounts the details as if it was only yesterday.

This is his recollection of what is surely one of the saddest days of his life.

'No one could tell me the full story'

It was a Saturday afternoon, and he was in the shower while his wife was with the baby.

Suddenly their 12-storey apartment block shook. She handed the little girl to the maid and told her to run. Maid and baby had barely passed the exit before the entire structure collapsed.

For Sime Darby Foundation chairman Tun Musa Hitam, the story is painful to remember.

His son, Carlos Rashid, and daughter-in law Rosina Abu Bakar were both killed in the 1993 Highland Towers tragedy, caused by a landslide that contained a mass equivalent of 200 jumbo jets ramming into the foundations of Block A.

"When I heard the news, I was in Kota Tinggi (in Johor), visiting the villages. I rushed back. One of my sons-in-law and bodyguard were with me but nobody could tell me the full story.

"The drive back took nearly three hours. I just had this gut feeling that something was seriously wrong," recalled the 79-year-old former deputy prime minister.

"When I arrived on-scene, all I saw was this rubble. My first question was: where was my son?

"Nobody could tell me that he was alive. All they said was that they were searching. The only good news was that my granddaughter, Marisa, was safe."

Carlos' and Rosina's remains were discovered days after the Dec 11 disaster that claimed 48 lives.

"No words can describe how I felt then. I remember my ex-secretary telling me: 'I don't want you to see their bodies.'" And Musa knew better than to argue.

Despite his sorrow, Musa found the strength to move on. -  Malaysia Chronicle