OBITUARY | On the morning of July 3, 2020, a Friday, Malaysia lost one of its most colourful parliamentarians in Hu Sepang (1947-2020). A three-term assemblyperson and MP for Rasah from 1986-1990, Hu was best known for once campaigning on horseback and regularly wearing a cowboy hat, even to Parliament.

A stalwart of Negri Sembilan DAP politics, Hu was rarely out of the press in the 1980s and had a number of well-publicised incidents. I had never met him personally but interviewed him over the phone in 2008 when my former editor asked me to do a story about some of Malaysia’s most memorable MPs. Everyone I spoke to mentioned Hu and I was able to track him down.

"Hu had an aggressive style but he was good-hearted. A bit of a joker too with his cowboy look,” former Dewan Rakyat secretary Abdullah Abdul Wahab who served in Parliament from 1980-2006 told me at the time.

Hu himself was jovial when we spoke and enjoyed reminiscing about his time in the limelight.

"Those were the good old days and I was seen as colourful because I looked at things light-heartedly. Even though it was the highest forum of the country and debated many important issues, I felt one couldn't be serious all the time."

Hu told me he found a loophole ...