Ong Ing Keong, like any other e-hailing drivers, was just trying to make a living. The only difference is the 46-year-old Grab driver is deaf. But he isn’t blind, hence he’s perfectly fit to work. As usual, on May 28, 2024, he was waiting to pick up four passengers at the St Regis Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. All hell broke loose when a VVIP entourage was leaving the hotel lobby.
The VVIP turned out to be Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail, whose father is the current King Sultan Ibrahim. Apparently, one of the crown prince’s bodyguards knocked on Mr Ong’s car window and asked him to move his vehicle, before punching the disabled man in the face. As a result, he sustained soft tissue injuries and was treated at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
The deaf man then made a report at about 1pm on the same day after the assault at the Brickfields police station. Unfortunately for him, Royal Malaysia Police – arguably one of the most corrupted institutions in the country – has different standards for the elite and ordinary folks like Ong Ing Keong. He should thank God that he managed to come out alive in one piece.
It immediately raised a red flag – and a cover-up – when there was a contradiction within the police force. While the head of the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) confirmed that an investigation was underway, the Kuala Lumpur police chief Rusdi Mohd Isa proudly declared that the matter had been “settled amicably” – claiming that the disabled man did not wish to prolong the issue.
The disgraced KL Police Chief was clearly working hand-in-glove with the royal house bodyguards to intimidate, bully and even threaten the poor victim when it claimed Mr Ong lodged a second report at about 9:59pm on the same day of the incident to close the case. But thanks to the Malaysian Deaf Advocacy and Well-being Organisation (DAWN), it has now become a scandal.
As revealed by DAWN secretary-general Anthony Chong, there were four reports lodged, with three prepared by the cops. Stunningly, while the deaf Grab driver had lodged only one report, the police mysteriously cooked up three extra dubious reports and had Ong signed without fully understanding what were being written. The most damaging part – palace representative was present at the police station
What really happened on the day after the deaf man was assaulted by the royal bodyguard? When the police received Ong’s report that it was the Johor Crown Prince’s bodyguard who had beaten him, he was asked to show proof. After showing a video on his phone, he was asked to undergo a medical examination, during which he was asked to rush back to the police station on the same day (May 28, 2024).
The purpose was to forward the video so that the superior of the Brickfields police station could review the contents. However, in what appears to be a sign of police intimidation, the disabled man was escorted to the police officers’ office and left unattended for hours upon arrival at the police station between 5pm and 6pm. He was asked to surrender his phone and treated like a suspect.
When the victim, still shocked after being punched by the Johor Crown Prince’s bodyguard, asked for his phone in order for him to contact his wife and a friend, his request was flatly rejected. Not only was the police unprofessional and brutal, but also cold-hearted as Ong was still in mourning after his child had passed away about three weeks prior to the incident.
Worse, no sign language interpreter was offered – suggesting that the police might have malicious intentions from the beginning by shutting down transparency. Ultimately, the deaf man was given two options – to proceed with the case or to drop the case. However, if he chooses to go to court, his phone would be confiscated. He will be compensated if he drops the case.
It’s not rocket science that the police, together with the palace, were offering bribes to silence the Grab driver, and threatened to make his life difficult if he dares to go to the court. Under pressure, as any ordinary people would be under such circumstances, the Grab driver agreed to drop the case. This is a criminal case – the police have no business conspiring with the royal house for a settlement.
Only after the deaf victim – reluctantly – agreed to drop the case that the police released his identity card – obviously another intimidation tactic. Upon collecting his identity card, he was asked to sign a third police report. He was so confused that he could not tell the difference between the second and third report. But he certainly remembers one thing – the palace was freaking cheapskate.
Yes, the palace representative was so cheapskate and pathetic when he tried to negotiate on the asking price of RM1,000. Like a night market haggling, the compensation finally settled at RM800 after the 46-year-old driver refused to accept RM500. But Lawyers for Liberty said there was no such thing as a “settlement” of a criminal case between the perpetrator and victim of a crime.
Lawyers for Liberty director Zaid Malek said – “Once the police receive information regarding commission of an offence, they are duty-bound to investigate the matter. Section 3(3) of the Police Act 1967 tasks PDRM (Royal Malaysia Police) with the preservation of the peace and security of Malaysia, the prevention and detection of crime and the apprehension and prosecution of offenders,”
Likewise, Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim said – “It does not matter if the assailant is an important person or an aide or bodyguard of royalty, the sultan of a state or even the Yang Di-Pertuan Agung (King), an offence against ordinary citizens and even more so against people with disabilities cannot be taken lightly. Under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, equality is guaranteed to every citizen under the law”.
The simple fact that the palace representative was willing to pay (or rather bribe) is the clearest proof that the bodyguard had committed a crime, which the police shamelessly tried to help covering up by seizing the disabled man’s phone and even his vehicle’s dashboard camera. It’s not hard to see how they have planned to destroy evidence should the victim go to the court.
Interestingly, while Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail said that he “does not condone illegal action or intimidation” and urged authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly, he hilariously claimed that there is a “movement” to smear the royal institution’s reputation. Exactly who dares to tarnish the image of the most powerful royal house in the country, whose sultan is now the Yang Di-Pertuan Agung (King)?
Was Tunku Ismail, who has been appointed Johor regent in January 2024 after his father ascended the throne to become Malaysia’s 17th King for a five-year term, referring to political powerhouse Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS – Parti Islam Se-Malaysia), who demands a thorough investigation over the possibility of selective prosecution, favouritism, cronyism, or institutional bullying?
Tunku Ismail, popularly known as TMJ, should realize that this is not the first time his bodyguards acted like a gangster and had broken the law. In 2012, a member of TMJ’s security team – Ahmad Asri Mohd Redzuan – was fined RM10,000 after he was found guilty of extorting RM40,000 from a businessman, Zainal Awang, to refrain from exposing his affair with a woman.
In 2008, two royal households of Negeri Sembilan and Johor exploded into war. Johor Tunku Ismail and his bodyguards were accused of not only beating up a son of the Negeri Sembilan royalty, Tunku Nadzimuddin, in a nightclub at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, but also had locked up the Negeri Sembilan prince in a hotel room – even put a gun to his head.
The eldest of six children of Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Ismail had also issued a death threat during a scheduled match between Terengganu-based football club T-Team and Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in 2014. More importantly, the obsession to protect one of his thuggish bodyguards could reopen an old wound, which led to the 1993 Constitutional Crisis.
As his father is now the King, he should remember better than to bring back the history of how his grandfather – Sultan Mahmud Iskandar – misbehaved and beat up hockey coach Douglas Gomez in 1992, not to mention the murder of a golf caddie in 1987 while serving as Agong (King). As a result, then-PM Mahathir Mohamad decisively stripped the monarch’s legal immunity.
The 32-year-old crisis was so explosive that foreign mainstream media screamed – “Malaysia Prepares to Strip Sultans of their Immunity”. It began when Sultan Iskandar’s second prince – Tunku Majid Iskandar (half-brother of current Sultan Ibrahim Ismail) – was suspended from playing in hockey tournaments for 5 years after he was found guilty of assaulting an opposing (Perak) goalkeeper after Johor lost a match.
Enraged, Sultan Iskandar ordered the withdrawal of Mr. Gomez’s hockey team from national tournaments. In retaliation, Gomez criticised the “royal instruction” for “destroying hockey in the State”. The angry Johor Sultan summoned Gomez to the palace on November 30,1992 where he was reprimanded and beaten by the sultan, witnessed by his dumbstruck bodyguards.
Gomez, who suffered injuries to his face and stomach, not to mention a black eye, sought treatment at a private clinic the following day and subsequently filed a police report on December 6,1992. The assault was widely reported and for the first time, all the 96 parliamentarians, including from oppositions, passed a resolution to strip rulers and members of the royal families of legal immunity.
But the Gomez incident was not the first time that Sultan Iskandar had shown his temper. In 1987, while serving as Agong (King), he was accused of attacking a golf caddie at the Cameron Highlands golf club – eventually killed him. The golf caddy, apparently, laughed when the Sultan missed a golf stroke. Thinking the caddy was laughing at him, the sultan swung his golf club and murdered him on the spot.
There were also reports alleging that Sultan Iskandar would put a shotgun strapped to the dashboard of his Rolls-Royce when he travelled on the roads of Johor, with red light and siren on. Anybody who dared overtaking him would be slapped with exorbitant fines for speeding, or requiring them to perform squat jumps.
Other mind-boggling stories included how Iskandar chained two policemen in a dog kennel for issuing him traffic summon. Together with a case of assaulting 6 people, the chaining fiasco ultimately convinced Iskandar’s father – Sultan Ismail – to strip him as Tunku Mahkota (Crown Prince) in 1961, just 2 years after he was appointed.
There were also stories where hotels and clubs around the state of Johor would hide their attractive-looking female staff away when Johor royals turned up. In 1973, Iskandar was convicted of assault and was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment. Five years later, he was charged and convicted of manslaughter after shooting and killing a man near his private helicopter.
Fortunately for him, his father, Sultan Ismail, intervened and granted official pardons to Mahmud Iskandar in both cases. Iskandar’s antic gained the world’s attention when several British newspapers published pieces on Sultan Iskandar’s coronation with headlines – “Killer becomes King” and “King A Killer” – leading to diplomatic scandal between the United Kingdom and Malaysia.
Unlike Mahathir, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim may not have the balls to intervene in the assault of the disabled Grab driver, largely because he desperately depends on King Sultan Ibrahim’s support to cling to power. However, any police cover-up will backfire as social media is something that neither the Royal Malaysia Police nor the Crown Prince can control. - financetwitter
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
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