It is with total shock that I read about Hishamuddin Rais. I have known him since 1973. He is the craziest and zaniest 'revolutionary' Malaysia has ever known, but to say he is prone to violence - never! Isham will not ever use any form of violence to achieve his goals.

I know this for a fact, especially in 1975-6, when he and Kamaruzaman Yacob prevented violence in the UM campus and was thus arrested. To all the graduates from the years of 1973 to 1977, please don't keep quiet.

You may now be in high government and high corporate places, but please don't forget the crazy kindly secretary-general of the University Malaya Students' Union who looked after all of you freshies, and who often inquired into the progress of your studies. Remember the sec-gen who did his best to get you student loans? Remember Mahasiswa Negara?

Please do not forget the kindness and charity Hishamuddin had showed and gave all of us. He was our sec-gen and he would never harm us.