Excerpt from Beyond The Blue Gate…
Waking up, I realised it was already two in the morning of 21 May. I had to work and so I bade goodbye to my friends and made my way home. At that time I was living alone in a friend’s double-storey semi-detached house in Jalan Limau Purut. He was working abroad and I was his caretaker.
Driving along the road that led to the house, I noticed an old motor bike spluttering ahead of me. It was unusual to see a motorcyclist in the quiet middle class estate so early in the morning. The cyclist rode past the house and just as he reached the top of the slope, I saw him turn his head, as if checking if I was behind him. I felt a little uneasy but was too tired to think much about it.
Entering the house, I took a shower and promptly fell asleep. However, I was soon awakened by loud noises. The sky was dark. I wondered where the noise was coming from. It was not long before I realised to my horror, that the noise was actually the sound of the glass door on the ground floor being hit.
They must be robbers, I thought. I was scared. The banging continued and I knew I had no choice but to get downstairs. Looking out of the window of my room, I saw the garden awash with light. There was a car outside the gate with headlights on and many people were milling around. The thought that they were robbers disappeared. They could not be robbers. Who were they and what do they want?
At the stairway, I saw three or four people in jeans and jackets through the louvre window. I walked to the window and asked what they wanted. They flashed their cards and said they were from the immigration department looking for illegal immigrants. I felt relieved as I was sure there were no illegal immigrants in the house. One of them identified himself as Inspector W. I told him there were no illegal immigrants in the house. But he said that they had to search. I then told him I would check with the police if they had the authority to search. I dialed 999 and the receptionist who answered told me that she did not know of any search or Inspector W and said she would send a patrol car over…
(You can buy the book online at ethos books online)
