Noorazlan Ismail, the 49-year-old taxi driver who claimed to have walked from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur to draw attention to his plight, said he has gone as much as two days without sleep in achieving his feat.
“My sleep is irregular; it depends on my abilities. Sometimes I have gone two days without sleep,” he said in a video released last night.
He said this after claiming to have walked to Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur to draw attention to his plight and appeal to the government to allow targeted EPF withdrawals.
At the palace, he was also joined by Bersatu’s Tasek Gelugor MP Wan Saiful Wan Jan who described it as a “chance encounter”. Wan Saiful was there alongside several NGOs to submit a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the same issue.
Noorazlan (above) said in the video that he covered the distance from the Skudai toll plaza to Istana Negara - about 312km - in six days from March 28 to April 3.
However, the claim also drew scepticism from netizens, who compared it to the nine days it took actress Sharifah Sofia Syed Hussein to walk approximately 235km from Taman Negara, Pahang to the Kuala Lumpur High Court last year.
In the video last night, Noorazlan was quizzed by activist Syarul Ema Rena Abu Samah (also known by her monicker ‘Ratu Naga’) and Wan Saiful’s alleged research officer Mohamad Shafiq Abdul Halim to answer his critics.
When asked how he slept during his journey, Noorazlan said he would sleep wherever he was when he felt tired before continuing on his journey, in places like underneath bridges, in parks, and on wet grass.
“There was once after being drenched by rain, I slept on the grass next to the (road) divider. That was what… affected me most deeply, with my clothes soaked and all the clothes in my bag also soaked.
“God willing, I will never forget such memories,” he said.
Noorazlan’s journey
Noorazlan said he set off on his journey at about 10pm on March 28, then arriving at around 4am or 5am on April 3. That is a total of five days and four or five hours.
He denied hitching a ride along the way and said he has suffered sunburns around his neck and injuries to his feet during his journey.
Fortunately, he said he also encountered many Good Samaritans along his journey who provided him with various supplies for his trip.
Among others, a certain “Dr Rahman” who treated his injuries provided him with new shoes, though he preferred walking with his slippers due to the injury.
The doctor also brought him a change of clothes upon learning he got drenched, as well as a power bank.
Meanwhile, a couple he encountered on the journey later returned to give him a bag containing several changes of clothes along with some food and water, including the suit he was seen wearing outside the palace.
He joked that he received so many offers to provide him with new shoes that, if he accepted all offers, he would quit his taxi driving job upon returning to Johor and sell shoes instead.
Asked why he had stopped providing social media updates on his journey, he explained he was acting on police advice after a discussion which took place at the Plus Expressway office at the Yong Peng exit in Johor.
Shafiq, whom Noorazlan said he first met at the Plus office, interjected. He said the police officer was from the Special Branch at the Johor police contingent, who advised Noorazlan to abandon his journey.
The Special Branch officer supposedly expressed concern that since the EPF issue is politically sensitive, Noorazlan’s journey could draw a crowd that constitutes an illegal assembly, or provoke an attack against the government. He then offered to send Noorazlan home.
During the discussion, Noorazlan was also advised to stop using the highway for safety reasons.
‘No interest in politics’
As he continued on his journey and reached Pagoh, Noorazlan said he began to be contacted frequently by “certain parties”. He started to fear that the police’s warning could come true, and he would be forced to abandon his mission and be sent home.
“So from there, it was better that I turn off my phone. I didn’t want them to know my whereabouts.
“That is why I stopped updating (my social media). It is to ensure my mission’s success,” he said.
Despite using the trunk roads after the encounter with the police, however, Noorazlan said he still used the highways in secret to help speed up his journey. He said this was because he was not familiar with the old roads.
As for why he chose to take the long journey to champion the EPF issue, he said has no interest in politics, but saw the EPF withdrawals as a way to settle his debts.
He said is currently making a decent living as a taxi driver, except for the burden of repaying past debts.
As he watched the government rebuffs efforts to lobby for another round of EPF withdrawals, he started thinking of ways to demonstrate that he needed the money.
“That’s where the idea came to demonstrate (my situation) to those in power through what I am doing. The walk was difficult, really difficult, but that (difficulty) is what I’m facing in life.
“I wanted to prove to our leaders that people like me really needed it, that it is not just NGOs and leaders who support it. Perhaps they are just saying it through their mouths, but I am taking action to make our leaders open their eyes,” he said. - Mkini
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