Forum at OPA Penthouse

Last Friday evening of 09 July 2010 a Forum was held at the Old Putera Association Penthouse in Saujana Resort where the OPA Building is situated. I am not a regular visitor to the OPA Secretariat and I only made my presence felt on occasions which I deem fit to be there, such as the Annual Tahlil or events of similar nature. At the behest of my colleague OP Azudin O Fuad, I agreed to become the moderator for his so-called " Chief Raggers Convention" but I suggested that the topic should be renamed to a more palatable one, and so he changed it to, " Serve to Lead; A Tradition of Honour and Excellence ". The aim of the Forum was to provide a platform for the OP's ( Old Puteras ) to look for ways and means to make the RMC relevant in the context of the tragic incident involving the death of a New Boy, Putera Naim Mustakim at the hands of his seniors supposedly from "Ragging" which turned ugly.

The media blitz and a bold attempt by one OP to defend the image of the RMC from the barrage of attacks made many OP's feel the necessity to hear what actually happened from the horse's mouth so to speak and look at the RMC's relevancy vis-a-vis its Charter and suggest a series of action for consideration of the BOG. It appeared the problem of " Ragging " had been swept under the carpet for too long and very little effort were taken by the authorities to prevent such misadventure.

So prior to the Forum, I went to see OP Azudin in his capacity as the Executive Secretary of the Old Putera Association to discuss my role as a Moderator.When we have agreed on the modus operandi and who should sit as Panelists, then I made my exit as I had other appointments to keep. Incidentally I met the writer of the book " Kolonel Jihad" at OP Azudin's office and I took the opportunity for him to autograph 3 copies of his book.

The Forum that Friday evening comprised of 4 Panelists each representing the Generation of the 60's, 70's, 80's and the 90's. The attendance of OP's initially was small but as time increased a few more turned up. This was expected as the past trend had shown that few OP's turned up at such gatherings. But those who attended were very attentive and participated actively when the Forum was opened to the Floor. There were a few startling revelations as how mild the "Ragging" practice was in PD which I went through until it became unthinkably violent. Nevertheless most kept their cool, as OP's we were quite accustomed in facing adversity with stoic calmness and with that training of the mind and matter which saw most of us able to weather any 'cyclones' or 'hurricanes' in our chosen field or profession.

The conclusion of the Forum was that RMC should remain relevant BUT with the proviso that a thorough and comprehensive reform must be carried out Pronto! There should not be any dilly dally as what transpired in the past when the "Way Forward" was mooted but did not see the light of day, perhaps there were more important issues that require greater attention and on merit probably the problem was conveniently overlooked. Now the death of Allahyarham OP Naim Mustakim has changed the RMC's BOG priority and if this matter is not resolved, they all should resign en bloc. The photos above were the few taken that night just for rememberance.