| Mas Selemat Caught THE COVER KAMPUNG CAMOUFLAGE | |||||
| Difficult for strangers to find rustic village | |||||
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BLINK and you'll miss it.
The rustic kampung where Mas Selamat Kastari hid while on the run is one of many found off the main road of Jalan Kampung Maju Jaya.
A rickety wooden signboard, weathered with age, is the only hint of its existence.
Painted in yellow against a blue background were the words Kampung Tawakal.
In Arabic, they mean 'surrender yourself' - not exactly the best choice for a hideout if Mas Selamat is the superstitious sort.
It took The New Paper almost three hours to find it, though the place is merely a 40-minute drive from the Causeway.
The kampung in Kempas, Johor Baru, is unmarked on any map, not even on Google Earth.
For strangers, it's almost impossible to find the only road that leads into the village.
Surrounding the kampung are factories and plantations.
The only significant landmark to that area is the exclusive Starhill Golf and Country Club, about 5km from the kampung.
The one-lane road leading to the kampung is barely wide enough for two cars to pass.
Travel down about 100m and the first house comes into sight.
The houses, with sprawling gardens, are well-kept. Some had two or three cars parked on the porch.
The kampung was quiet before the Singapore media descended on the village. There was not a villager in sight when we first drove down the straight paved road.
Villager Wasilan Suaudi, 53, who has lived at the kampung for more than 20 years, said that there are about 40 houses there.
The tiny kampung has a population of fewer than 100.
'Many of the villagers here are in their 50s and are retirees or about to retire,' Mr Wasilan said.
'The biggest family here has only five people. The younger generation had mostly moved out of the village, leaving the old ones behind.'
Mr Wasilan, a shop owner, lives with his 25-year-old daughter and his aged father.
His 17-year-old son lives in a neighbouring village.
There are no cinemas or shopping malls in the village to while away your weekends. The nearest shopping area is about 8km away.
The villagers spend their time watching TV shows or going to the small eatery just outside the village, at the main road.
From the outside, No. 15 - the house Mas Selamat stayed at - had only one distinct feature that made it stand out from the other houses.
It was on stilts, one of only two such houses in the village.
So secluded is the kampung that even the police made a mistake when they arrived on 1 Apr to arrest Mas Selamat.
Said another neighbour, Mr Jamian Simin, 70: 'The police broke the wrong door when they arrived at about 6am that day.
'They had gone to No. 10 (the only other house on stilts). They broke down the door leading to the basement of the house and found that the place was unoccupied.'
Mr Jamian was woken from his sleep that morning from the sound of people kicking at the door of a nearby house.
Peering out of the living room window, he saw police officers - some in uniform and others in plain-clothes - running past his house.
Then, he saw them kicking down the door as 30 armed police officers surrounded house No. 15.
The police were shouting 'Buka pintu, buka pintu. Jengan Lari. (Malay for 'open the door, don't run.')'
Bundled in police car
Not long after, Mr Jamian saw them leading someone out from the basement of the house.
'A man, clad in T-shirt and shorts, with his face covered in a dark blue checked sarong, was led out.
'He was quickly bundled into a police car and taken away.'
The drama was over within 30 minutes. The man taken away that morning was Mas Selamat.
Mr Jamian added: 'It's not easy to find someone here as some of the houses are not marked.'
Yesterday, the media - both from Malaysia and Singapore - descended on the small kampung in search of the house where Mas Selamat had been staying.
The neighbours who were at home were mostly friendly.
Mr Jamian even held an impromptu press conference in his living room, talking to at least 10 reporters and photojournalists.
'Please come in,' was what Mr Jamian said to every reporter who came to his door, which was wide open.
Close-knit community
Villagers The New Paper spoke to said they were a close-knit community, and that everyone knew one another.
Even Mas Selamat, who seldom talked to his neighbours, would sometimes hand them gifts.
Mr Wasilan said: 'He would often take fruits, like rambutans and mangosteens, from trees which he planted, to my house and give it to my family.
But villagers noted that it was hard to keep track of people living in their kampung as many of the houses were unoccupied and rented out to tenants who did not stay long.
Most of the Tawakal villagers The New Paper spoke to were shocked that the fugitive, described as dangerous by the authorities, had been living in their midst.
'We are friendly to everyone in the kampung,' said Mr Jamian, adding that it's inevitable for villagers to feel scared even after Mas Selamat has been nabbed.
He said: 'I can't imagine what he'd been up to inside the house.' |
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