170 kilometers per hour.
That was the fastest GPS speed clocked by my 14-year old (soon 15) Proton Saga Megavalve. I raced with a BMW on the Kuala Selangor to Sungai Buloh road on my way back from giving a political speech in conjunction with the Ijok by-election.
Yes, I know. It’s been three years since I got myself involved in mainstream politics. I have been asked to get involved since the news of the passing of Datuk K Sivalingam, the former state assemblyman for that area, but I declined all efforts to bring me back into the scene. However, at around 5.30pm yesterday, I got a call from someone close asking me to give a speech at 9.30pm. Initially, I declined. But he was adamant to have me. I tried another excuse saying I have not been registered as the candidate’s agent, and therefore I cannot campaign on his behalf. I was shocked to be told that my name was already on the list of guest speakers, all legally registered, and that they were sending a car to pick me up from home. I declined the car and told them I would drive on my own. Had I accepted the ride, I could still be in Ijok at this very moment.
Dive Buddy initially disliked the idea since I told her I do not like politics. But after hearing that I was badly needed, she wished me luck and asked me to drive safely.
So at 8.15pm, after making sure the kids had eaten their dinner, I drove my trusted Proton Saga through the Guthrie Highway towards Batu Arang (exit at Rawang). I did around 160km/h then. I had to pick up an old friend, Encik Mat Jaiz, from Batu Arang, to show me where I was supposed to deliver the speech. I arrived at Batu Arang at 8.50pm. By 9.15pm I passed the Sungai Rambai area, where another old friend, Tan Sri Md Isa Samad, the former Menteri Besar of Negeri Sembilan and former Minister for the Federal Territories, was delivering his speech. At Simpang 3 Batang Berjuntai, the police blocked the road towards Kuala Selangor as the Federal Reserve Unit was trying to disperse an illegal assembly organised by the Opposition. I was stuck there for about an hour before I was allowed to pass.
In the end I delivered the speech, BUT I allowed a dialog to take place. Some people thought that that was suicidal. Several questions were fielded but I managed to answer them smoothly. And to think I had put politics aside for the past three years and relatively out of touch.
Anyway, my Political Intelligence team quickly went into action when asked by “the people up there” for our latest assessment of the situation. I reported the figures ten minutes after collating the data.
At 11.32pm, I SMSed Dive Buddy that I was leaving the Ijok constituency. After passing the junction near Ijok town, a BMW started driving menacingly behind my car, giving its high beam and spotlights. I pulled my handbrake causing the BMW to take evasive action to avoid the tow ball on my rear bumper that would have cost him a new radiator. I changed down the gear to second, slammed on the accelerator and red-lined the engine before shifting into fourth, then fifth. The BMW gave chase but couldn’t keep up with me. It may have a good straight-line speed, but along the zig-zagging road, skill counts…especially if you’re doing 170km/h.
I arrived home, changed, washed my face, and SMSed Dive Buddy to inform her that I had reached home. The text was delivered exactly one hour after I had left Ijok.
SeaDemon Says 