Welcome home Tengku Razaleigh.

In the very early morning of the 9th Oct Tengku Razaleigh will touch down at KLIA after more than 2 weeks leave from London and it is much awaited return by politicians from both side of the divide. I received loads of short text through short messages services(SMS) and phone calls and visits by friends and foes in politics requesting me to join in the crowd at KLIA waiting for his (TR) homecoming.

TR has been in and out of the modern international airport (KLIA) without many noticing him all these years. It has been that way for more than 2 decades and he enjoys it exceedingly without anyone’s attention.

BUT situation seems to change overnight and I was told by many colleagues from Kelantan UMNO that there will be a reasonably huge number of UMNO members as well as some opposition members will be at the KLIA that Saturday morning waiting for his return from Northern Ireland (Belfast) after visiting Queens University the place where achieved his excellent first degree in 1959.

Suddenly I received telegrams and notices reminding me to be early to ensure that I arrive earlier than his (TR) touch down time. I think for all the years I did at times loitering at the airport waiting for his return from anywhere but there was just scanty number, may be 5 or 6 people waiting for him at the VIP lounge.

But this time around I am relieved that there will be quite a huge number welcoming him home as I don’t need to be there this time around as I always be back to sleep after my morning prayer. I don’t need to be there at that early morning since there will be many others waiting for him in place of the regular 5 or 6 of his close friends.

In actuality this prince is a real leader at heart. He does not brood over how UMNO leaders unkindly treated him. He is full of magnanimity in him as he is a Royal and a technocrat by attribute. He is always with heart for the people and does not plan anything for his personal gain and greed as he does not need to do so. He doesn’t travel in executive jets like some others do. He does not need to fake himself with artificial facets because he is by birth a complete man.

That is why one can see that he drives in cars some are just slightly younger than my age. I used to ask him while in his car, “Ku, are you not getting a new car?” He said, ‘no, this car is just 20 years old and it is still functioning well. This car is very loyal to me sending me to the airport and to the mosque every Friday. Beli kereta baru mahal.”

He does not brood over efforts by some party leaders to admonish him and to forget his grand deeds to the nation in the past. I think by accident I was once invited to the annual anniversary of PETRONAS some years ago. I saw TR was not there and I asked one of the officials who sat with me why TR is not invited. The official said, “I listed his name but ultimately some one upstairs just put his name off. All the first organizing first directors were listed but I don’t know why their names were deleted.”

Only then I realized that Rastam Hadi, Junus Sudin, Dato Wan Ismail and Manan Othman the first PETRONAS Company Secretary were also not there either.

PNB has forgotten TR totally. I once visited one of the annual investment days of PNB and I saw everyone’s old still photos. There were photos of Rafidah, Musa Hitam and many others except the photos of TR the real person who muted the idea of setting and actually built up PNB to exercise the transfer of wealth to the Bumiputra through unit trust managed by ASNB.

So there were apparent effort to systematically obliterate from the knowledge of the people of all the great deeds TR had done for the nation and Malaysian as a whole. The unkind politics deny the deeds of good and worthy leaders and that has become an entrenched culture in our political system.

All these do not disturb TR a breath. He only serves the people and does not take any pain to be recognized and does not die for acknowledgement for all what he had done for everyone. He remains cool and does not worry about all political ill-attempts towards him. He allows others to claim credits and praises over all the things he did worthily for the people.

There has been no praise and recognition for him. Politic is so hurtful to him and if that happens to other leaders they would be living in loneliness licking their own wounds. But that is not the case for TR. Even though he was all alone in UMNO he has lines of friends and followers with him unnoticed by the public. He is always busy as usual as an elderly and well respected stature as a statesman of consequence.

As from the 9th Oct until the by-election ends he will be impregnated with praises especially from the top UMNO leaders who now realized that he is the man that the party needs especially at this time of UMNO’s diminishing and thinning support from the Malays and Malaysian.

But in the issue of Galas by-election, let him (TR) decide whether to accept or reject the appointment as I trust him that he would always make good and appropriate decision for the party even though that may ostracize his own political future.

He is always for the people with optimum conviction. He is truly a man for the people. So far he is the most appropriate PM that Malaysian has never had.