Kamal - a true peace dove ...

Today marks the 15th year death anniversary of my cousin Kamal He was shot and killed in cold blood by the Indonesian Army on November 12th 1991 in Dili, East Timor which as at the time occupied by the Indonesians. He and many others were killed while peacefully protesting the death of a young man... inspite of him flagging the Malaysian passport he was holding. His body dumped in a mass grave. But due to pressure from his mom and dad and help from the Malaysia then vice president - his body was recovered and returned to Malaysia for a proper burial.

He was an advocate for peace and the rights of the East Timores people. He often travelled to East Timor to act as a translator to the journalist seeing that he could speak Bahasa Indonesia and to write about the things he saw there. At the time he was also a student studying at the University of New South Wales in Australia - he would take a boat to get into East Timor - he knew it was dangerous but he was damn on figthing for the rights of the East Timorese people to get their independence. In his college days he brought the plight of the East Timorese people by staging marches at campus & doing an interview with the then Australian Ministy of Foreign Affairs Gareth Evans.. His death was loss to the family and to people in general i would think. But for sure it wasnt in vain - East Timor got their independence from Indonesia on May 20th 2002..

His death hadnt gone unoticed - a New Zealander filmaker made a movie called Punitive Damage about him and his fight for the freedom of the East Timorese people. Its never made it to the big screen for obvious reasons but its still worth the watch - hard for the family but in some ways it gives us closure...

Kamal was a source of inspiration to me - he always encouraged me to follow my dreams and to really stand up for things i believe in - through him i was made aware of the human rights issues which got me to dig deeper. May God bless his soul and may be he be at a place of peace & tranquility ...

Kamal a true peace dove till the end ...