KUALA LUMPUR: In life, legendary crimebuster Kenneth James Woodworth honoured the Royal Malaysia Police flag. In death, he was not honoured with the flag.
At Woodworth’s funeral last week, the PDRM flag was not draped on his white casket to honour the memory of his service to the country, infuriating many. There was neither a uniformed guard of honour nor police pallbearers, causing further annoyance.
A request for pallbearers was made to the corporate communications department of PDRM but it did not happen.
In the absence of pallbearers, the coffin was put into the hearse by employees of a private funeral service provider.
The only official police presence was that of two police outriders who led the way from Church of the Holy Rosary in Brickfields to the Cheras crematorium.
Former senior police officers said that a hero’s send-off was usually accorded to those who died on duty, while an honorary funeral could be rendered to others who served with distinction.
They said Woodworth’s career, in which he battled serious crimes during his time, had epitomised the greatness of Malaysian police.
The church disallowed a eulogy during the funeral mass as has been its way for several years. So, Woodworth’s life story was not told.
The hardy lawman died on May 22 at the Universiti Malaysia Medical Centre at the age of 89. It was a lonely death.
His wife of 61 years, Joan Sylvia Maureen, had died in 2017 and he had been at a care home in Petaling Jaya for more than four years. They had no children.
Their close relatives have settled abroad and Woodworth often said he did not want to join them because “Malaysia is my country, my home”.
One of the few who came to Woodworth’s wake was Ungku Shakirah Ungku Abdul Rahman, who had known Woodworth and his wife as neighbours in Johor Bahru in the 1980s.
Tears well up as she talks about the sad send-off.
She said she was upset when she went in the morning on the first day of the wake with her sister Ungku Lalita and found “not a soul around”.
She sought the help of a friend to get a police presence at St Joseph’s parlour, in the vicinity of the church and two young policemen on motorcycles came about three hours later.
At the funeral mass on Wednesday, she saw only some 20 people in the pews, “mostly friends and no police personnel in uniform”.
“It is sad that a brave police officer who sacrificed his life to keep the country safe was shown disrespect,” she said.
She only found out “Uncle Kenny” was in a care home after reading a news report about him in 2020.
“Since then, my sister and I visited him regularly, and he often said, ‘I can’t wait to go to Joan’. “When we visited him three months before he died, he could not recognise us and I felt that would be the last time we would see him,” said Ungku Shakirah.
Lawyer Karen Goonting, who had known Woodworth since she was six, said she had cared for Woodworth and his wife since 2008 as a friend.
When Joan became very ill in 2010, Woodworth, who was suffering from stage four chronic kidney disease, refused dialysis so that he could look after her at their home in Cheras, she said.
After Joan died, Woodworth lived with Karen but he often fell down and lost consciousness. A year later, he had to be placed in a nursing home for round the clock care.
Karen said: “Uncle Kenny paid for his long stay at the care home with his savings and set aside money for his funeral.”
Karen, who managed Woodworth’s finances, said he saved his money by doing mostly security work after he retired as a deputy superintendent of police in 1988.
Woodworth received several bravery commendations including one from the US Secret Service for his role in the Japanese Red Army siege at the American International Assurance building in Kuala Lumpur in 1975.
He was part of the elite team, “Magnificent 12” that ended the criminal life of Wong Swee Chin (Botak Chin) who wreaked terror throughout Kuala Lumpur in the 1960s and 1970s.
Wong was captured at a sawmill off Jalan Ipoh in 1976 and hanged five years later.
Woodworth was then an assistant superintendent. When he retired 12 years later, he had moved up only one rank to DSP.
A public servant all his life, Woodworth did not even get the Pingat Jasa Kebaktian (PJK) medal for his services, although he and Joan shared a commitment to something larger than themselves.
Karen said recognition of the greatness of Malaysians will plant good values among the people. “We cannot match their heroism, but we can strive to match their devotion,” she added.
Former crime reporter Najib Abdul Rahman said the nation was poorer at the loss of a distinguished officer and a gentleman.
He said: “The first time we met in 1972 at the High Street (Jalan Bandar) police station, I was struck by his boyish charm, warmth and miles of dazzling smiles.
“I was struck too by his professionalism as a policeman, fair minded, always obliging but rigidly astute in his principles. He carried the police badge with honour.” - FMT
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