A day spent is often filled with varieties of experiences, which could be remembered for the fondness or despair of its reminiscences- positive and, or negative. We hardly let go, the memories of the days when much sought after dreams come through; the days we set about breaking new grounds in life, most especially, moments we make substantive break-through in life. On the other hand, relics of agonizing nano-seconds, let alone of a day not to say of years may render one permanently and humanly disengaged.
A day spent is often filled with varieties of experiences, which could be remembered for the fondness or despair of its reminiscences- positive and, or negative. We hardly let go, the memories of the days when much sought after dreams come through; the days we set about breaking new grounds in life, most especially, moments we make substantive break-through in life. On the other hand, relics of agonizing nano-seconds, let alone of a day not to say of years may render one permanently and humanly disengaged. A million have met their ‘sudden’ deaths, owning to such ill-fated developments. This is not to say that there are no few negative experiences which re-fire the innate desires for further attempts, and this in itself could be towards positive or negative ends. When, it is positive, it turns out to be a good story that at its best, spur people to daring the odds in order to achieve set goals. However, in one piece, people never long for miserable moments, although, this is the incontrovertible reality of life. Alas! The 21st of September 2008 was a day of trauma, the day, the misery of foreign students studying in various Malaysian citadels climaxed. What a black day, which foreign students studying in Malaysia, particularly those from Africa would have loved to forget, but its torturous effects had irreparably being overwhelming. What apartheid was to the South-Africans, holocaust to the Jews, is what the 21st of September, is in our minds, and particularly will be in the minds of all those who shared the woes of the xenophobic repugnance, which culminated into the slay of that innocent, promising Chadian, Abdelaziz, a Business Administration undergraduate student, registered at HELP University College Malaysia. He was viciously butchered, by those who found him guilty of walking the soil meant for the ‘special race,’ and in deed a soil not for those whose colour is detested. For being guilty of spotting the wrong colour, Abdelaziz, the husband of the 19-year widower, Leila, and 8-months Halimah old who never have the slightest gaze at his father, was anguished beyond description by those who acted the Malaysian creed and script of hatred and abhorrence. Hate did this, as captured by the Malay Mail of the 22nd of September, 2008. Abdelaziz sojourn to Malaysian began in 2006, when he decided to blaze the trail of academic pursuit in Malaysia. Perhaps, the media campaign of Malaysia as the hub of Islamization project, and of course, as a home to foreigners, Muslims in particular, made his parents settled for the choice of Malaysia. Friends thronged the house of his parents on hearing the news of his most expected departure, to, as the Africans will say, share in their joy. This was with mixed feelings because some thought of the big vacuum his departure would create, as others considered this, as the most required bold step Abdelaziz could make to optimally develop his potentials. The former group was particular about who will step into the community roles being undertaken by Abdelaziz, those of free-tutorial classes, mentoring and daw’ah. But, they soon let go their fear, because after given their position a second thought, Abdelaziz’s departure was seen in the beam light of a journey that will him return a better person, well equipped for the challenges of placing not just his immediate community, Kemam, but also Chad Republic on the world map of the comity of nations. The wife, Leila Mahamat Ali, who was just a year into marital bliss, became object of envy among her peers. She couldn’t help holding her heads high, but the joy of temporal separation between the loving wife and the amorous husband overshadowed her ecstasy. She became emotionally down, and it took comforting words of love and assurance of commitment to marital vow from Abdelaziz to appease her. On the night of his departure, the loving Juliet, Leila, was down in tears as friends clustered to take a departing glance at their rallying point, Abdelaziz. It was one of the memorable sights ever recorded in the annals of their community. Abdelaziz meant hope, better tomorrow, and iconic personality to his people. Aboard the flight that conveyed him from Chad to Malaysia, Abdelaziz was affixed, perplexed and mouth-agape as he recounted the blistering departure ceremony held in his honour. He became philosophically strengthened as he recollected this sweet memory, in the resolve to give his best, so that in the long run, his people will find in him, the real hero of the emerging Chad. The dream of not letting down his people occupied his mind in the far-away Malaysia, to the extent that he knew nothing about Malaysia, other than his school, residence and place of worship. On the morning of 21st of September, 2008, Abdelaziz was pre-occupied with the thought of his trip to Chad, which is scheduled for the 27th of September, 2008. He could not wait to see his 8-month daughter, Halimah, and he wondered how the experience would be, since he hadn’t seen both the mother and Halimah since the news of the safe delivery was brokered. He was passionately attached to his daughter, Halimah, who has been described his ‘carbon-copy.’ So, prepared he was in meeting Halimah, to the extent that he has planned a special shopping spree that will enable him get the best of all Malaysian clothing for both Halimah, her gap-toothed Fulani looking angelic Leila, and perhaps community of his Kanem well-wishers. He had sought the hands of Eagle- eyed Fashion experts to assist him in selecting the best among the best attire available on the Malaysian shopping malls. His continuous insistence on this and perhaps his time-to-time mention of that moment that Allah will bring him and his daughter together became a cliché in the theme of his discourse with fellow Chadians and friends. Leila repeated phone-calls further made Abdelaziz restless and completely detached from everything Malaysian, to the extent that he couldn’t help but to keep day-to-day count down of the very moment he had been longing for. After breaking his fast on this proverbial day, he had a sigh of relief that his sojourn to Chad will soon manifest. While trying to prepare for the Tarwahi prayer, he heard a cry, of course from a familiar Chadian. It was of grief and a call for help. Abdelaziz, became disturbed and requested explanation from his friend what could have made him quite dejected. The friend told him of the usual embarrassment and assault aimed at the blacks, as the remote cause of his cry for assistance. Abdelaziz and co, consoled their grieved-stricken friends, and promised them company so that they could observe the Tarawih prayer at the International Islamic University Mosque as intended. On their way, the group of 20-stern looking Malays which earlier waylaid his friends in order to dispossess them of their property launched a more deadly attack on these armless individual, and fasting Muslims. Weapons such as switch-blades, metal-rods and zigzag headed bottles were used against these unfortunate guys. Sensing the danger ahead, escape was the only word which Abdelaziz and his friends thought of. In the process, Abdelaziz was the ill-fated one, who could not free himself from the clasp of these blood-thirsty souls. They butchered, stabbed, maimed and slaughtered him with a 23cm knife. He was neither spared of zigzag-mouthed broken-bottles’ stabs, nor of bodily mutilation, inflicted on Abdelaziz through the use of switch-blade. He made frantic attempt to save his soul by mustering the power to free himself from the jaws of horrifying death. As much as he tried to do this, the attackers hit harder, and only left him, when they saw him groaning in the pool of his blood. Abdelaziz cried for help, but nobody could come to his aid. The more he cried, hot cry, the more death stir him in the eyes, and in the alternate, the imaginative sight of his much touted re-union with his family and Halimah. He refused the sight of death, and cried further aloud for help. The more his attempts, the more death gradually overtake him. It was a gory sight, because the 23cm-knife thorn his intestine apart, to the extent that the horror scared all passers-by. Not even, a single passer could felt the humanly urge to help him out, until his friends who had earlier taken-cover for their lives came to his aid. They were initially overwhelmed at the horrendous sight of Abdelaziz’s bodily mutilation, and nearly gave up the hope of Abdelaziz’s survival, but were quick enough to be alive to their sensibilities, hence, their resolve to give his survival a trial. It was in the aforesaid hopeless situation that they met Abdelaziz, whimpering in pains of indescribable dimension. Helpless they were as they called on commuters and cab-drivers for assistance, but to no avail. They watched their friend dying as all cabs which assistance they sought ignored them. Not, even, the Malay community in that immediate community could offer them help. At this moment, Abdelaziz’s facial expression was of a fading hope, and gradually, his fading hope faded, until he breathe the last in the pool of his blood, which gushed ceaselessly from his ruptured arteries. Abdelaziz’s anticipation of a re-union with his family was as a result vanquished; the vested hope of his people as emergent leader of Chad became dashed, and Halimah, AbdelAziz’s only surviving child has in so doing, been refused the opportunity of ever-seeing the man who fathered him. Kanem, the immediate community of Abdelaziz will neither feel the enchantment of E-del-Fitri nor wish to forget in a hurry the horrible circumstance in which they lost their inestimable jewel, Abdelaziz. The story will be told and re-told, and as such, one fears the implications of this because in Adolf Hitler, the chief architect of the Word War II, we find a good example of how negative experience placed the whole-world on red alert. The same can be said of Saddam Hussein, the deposed Iraqi despot, whose controversial background constituted part of his unmaking. Leila, the unfortunate 19-year old wife of Abdelaziz is no doubt as a result of her husband’s inopportune death, confounded with the suddenness of matrimonial dilemma- of living either as a single mother for the residual part of her life or stepping out of Abdelaziz’s matrimonial vow for any found love. Neither of these seems a palatable option. She has been emotionally wretched, affectionately liquidated because the most important part of her life had been destroyed. Leila, how unfortunate you are! Poor girl! married to a man whose colour the Malays hate to see, a man whose appearance, the Malays grew increasingly restive at the slightest glance. Your husband was though hopeless in death, but great in dream. No doubt his aspirations ended up no more than a dream, but he was worthier of your love more than anyone else because in his last breathe, Leila, Halimah were the last words he could remember and utter still he breathe his last. If he had known that the project visit Malaysia is not meant for the Africans, those whose race is, in the Malay diction synonymous to ‘reject,’ ‘wild animal,’ ‘a wild specie,’ undeserving of the slightest milk of human compassion,, he would had possibly given his academic sojourn of no-return to Malaysia, a second thought. Had it been fate could make him see through the ominous cloud of what providence had in stock for him on this day, he would have perhaps decided to stay in door. Who was he Abdelaziz to hold back the making of providence, and that ugly faced-death, whose action is no respecter of anybody. We shall all live to die but must we be denied the joy of peaceful death? We detest recollecting the scene of your ‘hot’ death because it was too horrendous. Hapless we were as we watched your blood flowing the street of Wangsa Maju. How cruel your killers were that they defy the holiness of Ramadan, and of course, they were Muslims like you. We hope you could forgive our failure to lend you the effort which might have probably saved you the savagery of a de-humanizing end. The question why were you killed? The 22nd of September, 2007 edition Malay Mail provides the most appropriate response. As it was reported: ‘Residents and traders have claimed that the number of Africans and other foreigners, mainly students from institutions of higher learning, was growing steadily and that their large number was intimidating.’ Page 2. The police whose attention was called watched the perpetrators celebrating the success of a mission accomplished at Mydina Restaurant, Wangsa Maju and could not effect immediate arrest. One wonders, why did the police react in this unprofessional manner. The response of Zakaria Pagan, the Sentul District Police Chief Assistant Commissioner, provides the most appropriate answer to this begging question He said, as remarkably reported in the Malay Mail, 23rd September, Page 2: “We believe the youths who attacked the Africans wanted to teach them a lesson to behave themselves in public.” Zakaria’s statement which is of course a government response, shows that hate played out itself in the condescending butchering of Abdelaziz. Zakaria can not claim ignorance of the previous cases of abuse lodged against the Malay residents because police reports confirm this. To have thought of Abdelaziz as the only victim of this xenophobic ‘aggressivism’, will be quite unfair to other innocent citizens whose blood had been spilled because they were never wanted. Among several others, was the case of a Yemeni, who was beaten to comatose, and it was at air-breadth that he survived. Yet, he will live his life with bodily deformities. The University College Sedaya International’s unprovoked killing of two Nigerians, Olugboja Emmanuel Olawale and Abbas Alhaji and of the recent beaten of a Somalian at the Wangsa Maju LRT station are other instances of what further blurs our mentality as a race that deserve equal treatment and warmth reception. Yet, the impudent statement, ‘Africans students are stinking,’ credited to one Prof. Yousouf, the then Director of International Students’ Affairs, at the international Islamic University, further confirms our theses that this problem of hostility to foreigners occupies a central place in the psyche of the Malays. Relics of brutality and mental disconfiguration of African’s imagery was at it very best again, when Africans were framed up in the immediacy of International Islamic University, Malaysia, in 1994. This time around, it was a case of alleged group rape on an illusive Malay victim. The supposed victim was alleged to have been raped on a ceiling, and reportedly bled to death. Her assailants were Africans and must be clamped down upon. Swiftly, the man haunt for the assailants began and a sudden twist took place when request was made regarding making available the unfortunate damsel who was raped. That was too difficult for the script writer of this frame-up to do, hence the intensification of efforts by distinguished sons and daughters of Africa in unraveling the deceit behind great scheme. In the long run, a dead cat, not of a damsel whose blood was spilled from the roof-top and splashed in all direction imaginable was accidentally stumbled upon at the sight where the so-to-say rape took place. So, Africans could also rape a she-cat! How did the said Malay victim, suddenly transformed into a she-cat. Then, Africans must used magical spell which transformed the victim from human-being into a she-cat. If it were, then, Africans could as well be charged for being demonic. So, what went wrong? Nothing perhaps went wrong, as further investigation revealed that in the first instance, there was neither the fictitious lady, nor any instance of rape. It was a proverbial case of, ‘giving the dog a bad name, in order to hange him.’ If this could happened at the centre of Hadari Islamic project, then, we need no further examples to say Africans are branded all sorts of name because they are worthy of living as the chosen race-Malays. So, at one time or the other, African students increasing presence in Malaysia had been repulsive to those owners of the land. Not, just African as earlier said, foreigners generally. Foreign students are tired and sick of the day-to-day relics of negative experiences that come their way. This imagery has been dampening our spirit because we are mentally disconfigurated, mispresented, and misrepresented. This is why majority of the foreigners long for the time when these streams of mental torture will be narrated in their specifics. Perhaps, this will be in our various countries, as it is said, East or West home, sweat home, comfortable home is the best. I hope when this will be told, foreign students who had studied in Malaysia will say the good sides of the ever smiling Siti’s and Nors’ and also, of the bad eggs who contributed to the negative imagery we’ are seen and projected by those who went calling us to come and study on their soil. It will be no offence telling these stories, themed on racism, abhorrence, reject, and scorn because the rapt implications of these experiences, which could be remembered for their fondness or despair may in the long run serve the purpose of challenging our leaders to be responsible ones, who care about our lives and on the other hand, make the Malays change their ways, and perception about others. Abdelaziz, we wish the agony of your death will not continue in the grave as much as we strongly uphold that your death will do us the good of challenging the remote cause of this in the Asian way. Adieu Abdelaziz, and to Leila and Halimah, we have faith in Allah regarding your well-being.
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The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters
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