The food court was filling up in the late evening coolness of Cheras on Thursday. People from the tables around me were doing what I had just done, sauntering over to the newspapers vendor and picking up the evening edition of the next day’s China Daily News .
They would return to the table and glanced at the front page, inevitably letting out a cry of shock, “Ean Yong Ian Wah’s secretary died at MACC!” Everyone around the table would stare in disbelief, confusion, and anxiety. The newspaper was passed around the table. A whispered discussion then followed.
I imagined the scene repeating itself at dinner tables all around the country, with Malaysians sharing their silent explosion of outrage. Thinking about the ill-fated young man’s parents, siblings and his grieving fiancée, I suddenly felt very sad and depressed.