Penang Chief Minister Challenged To Fist Fight

Besides being an avid badminton fan, I also fancy watching boxing matches especially world heavyweight encounters.

In the 1960s, I still remember very vividly, encounters of boxing matches between Muhammad Ali or Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston. However, my ardent interest in heavyweight boxing, has of late, waned. This is because the likes of good heavyweight boxers, such as George Foreman, Floyd Paterson and Muhammad Ali are no longer in the arena today.

To state that I have lost complete interest in the field of heavyweight boxing is indeed a fallacy. In fact, I am still interested in anything that involves fighting or human combat.

Permit me to explain what is meant by the above statement made. Never in my wildest dreams have I ever envisaged what I witnessed. As a Fifth Former, while I was pursuing my upper secondary education in one of the town’s premier school in Klang way back in the 1960s, will again be reenacted.

First and foremost, readers should permit me to describe the poor discipline condition of the secondary school I was enrolled in at that time. The Disciplinary Board of the school faced enormous problems then. Gangsterism, amongst others was one such problem the teachers faced. Smoking was another. Fighting was yet another headache which the Prefects Board and Discipline committee had to face with daily.

While trying to address the problem of running away from school or ponteng sekolah, I remember an incident whereby the Discipline Board happened to take action on a Form 3 student whose ponteng record was to be described as atrocious.

Unfortunately, for the discipline teachers and prefects of the school mentioned, the above student upon whom they took discipline action on happened to be the son of a notorious ex-gangster of the town. The Form 3 boy involved was in fact publicly caned by the discipline master of the school.

The boy went home crying and reported the matter to his father. Being the notorious thug that he was, the father lost his temper upon hearing his son’s complaints.

According to the story unfolding, the gangster father from hence forward used to visit the school premises every recess time to pick upon the Indian discipline master who happened to cane the ex-gangster’s son. The notorious gangster as the saying goes, had a “bone to pick” with the discipline master from then onwards.

In full view of nearly a thousand pupils, the father concerned would single out the discipline master, shoved him and pushed him around and challenged him to a fist fight. Calling the discipline master all sorts of nasty names and what not, the gangster father would attempt to provoke the discipline master to take him in a hand to hand confrontation.

Of course, other teachers who happened to witness the encounter would try their utmost best to prevent a fight ensuing between the two raging adults. One the patient disciplinary master and the other, the raging gangster father whose son was punished for running away from school.

Could readers envisage a brawl between a father and a teacher in the presence of thousands of students in a school vicinity?

Although heated words were frequently exchanged every time the above two adults happened to meet, luckily good civic consciousness prevailed and no fight ensued eventually.

The above interesting episode has gone by now for many years. I have in fact almost forgotten about it now. As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, never in my wildest dreams had I ever envisaged such incident ever happening in my life time again. This is until recently, when I chanced to read an interesting article which appeared in the Star newspaper dated 27 August 2010 entitled, “Traders’ head wants a fist fight with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng”.

The above interesting story brings back reminisces of the incident whereby the gangster father issuing a challenge to the school discipline master of my school which happened some 50 years ago. The father was dead set to pulverize my discipline master.

In the episode involving Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, it is reported that Komtar Merchants Association (K.M.A.), deputy president Mohamed Ghani Abdul Jiman, is so enraged that he has challenged Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to a fist fight.

Mohamed Ghani alleges the D.A.P. leader has defamed him. Ghani incidentally issued yet another challenge to Lim a second time recently. Ghani claims that Chief Minister Lim has accused him of embezzlement and is willing to fight Mr. Lim If the latter could provide a venue.

The Penang police have however warned Mohamed Ghani not to take the law into his own hands. A very interesting challenge, I would dare say. If such a fist fight were ever to be held, I would not miss the opportunity to fly down to Penang for the interesting event.

My assumption of En. Mohamed Ghani was the chap must have been a former boxer previously. I was right. Star newspaper reported Ghani took part in many boxing centers some 20 years ago. Although Ghani is said to be 10 cm shorter than Chief Minister Lim and appear slightly stouter today, he is not afraid to issue Lim a challenge.

The episode which I witnessed in secondary school years ago has surprisingly again come to pass some 50 years later. Well, life is full of interesting episodes.

Just imagine, instead of instituting court proceedings, two well known national leaders are challenging one another to a fist fight to settle their differences. What has become to our judicial system? Its days, must be numbered.

The public currently await to see who is right and who is wrong in the above encounter. As the saying goes, “the truth will prevail”. Shortly, we shall see who is telling the truth and who is not.

Is the Chief Minister of Penang Lim Guan Eng or is it the deputy president of K.M.A., Mohamed Ghani Abdul Jiman who is correct this time around. Eagerly, we Malaysians await the results with abated breath.

Pondering over the interesting episodes of Lim and Ghani and to quote Chief Deputy Commissioner Datuk Wira Ayun Yaakob, who have advised the duo, especially Ghani, that it is the holy month of Ramadan, the puasa month. People should learn to be more patient and rational instead.

The Deputy Commissioner went on to advise that Ghani had already lodged a police report over Lim Guan Eng’s accusation. And so be it. He should not create any more problems. Whatever the outcome may be, should a fist fight finally come to pass, the above fight would certainly need a referee. I can only see the best referee around being Mr. Lim Kit Siang, the onetime former parliamentary leader of Malaysia parliament. How about that?

Talking about the skirmish between Mr. Lim and Mohamed Ghani, Madam Chong Eng, D.A.P’s Wanita Chief, suggest Mohamed Ghani should iron out his problems with Lim through discussion.

For readers’ info, Lim Guan Eng will be 50 this coming December 2010. I’m sure his wife, Betty, would not fancy her husband getting into any physical encounter with anybody at all.

As a parting shot to this article, it should be made known to one and all, that Mohamed Ghani is only 44 years old this year. Anyway, do readers think a 44 years old issuing a challenge to a 50 years old man is a fair fight? Think about it!

By | 2012-09-21T22:16:24+08:00 September 2nd, 2010|My Memories|0 Comments

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