PKR supreme council member Dr Tan Kee Kwong, whose service centre in Wangsa Maju in the Federal Territory was broken into last Sunday, said today the sophistication of the burglars left him flabbergasted.

"Seriously, there was nothing confidential about the information stored in two central processing units the burglars took away, together with a digital camera," said the former deputy minister in the BN government who joined PKR in 2008.

NONE "The police investigators told me the manner in which the security lock was picked showed that the thieves were experts," said Tan, the former Gerakan MP for Segambut who is now chairs the PKR disciplinary panel.

"The burglars should not have gone to such trouble; I would have given them the information stored on our CPUs, had they requested," the mild-mannered medical doctor said.

Tan runs the party's service centre in Danau Kota in Wangsa Maju, a seat PKR candidate Wee Choo Keong won in the 2008 election. Wee crossed to the independent bench in 2010.

Tan, who has been delegated by PKR to mind the constituency since Wee departed, is likely to be fielded by PKR for the seat in the coming general election.

If the burglary had left him flabbergasted, Tan said, the way the police intruded on a ceramah kelompok (a mini ceramah) a fortnight ago that was scheduled to be held at a house in Section One in Wangsa Maju had him dumbfounded.

Special Branch officer called wife of host

"A small group of us had gathered in the house for the ceramah kelompok , but we could not hold it because a man identifying himself as a Special Branch officer called the wife of the host several times to dissuade her from allowing the ceramah," Tan said.

"Are the authorities so desperate that a gathering of some nine to ten people over a late evening tea and tidbits is so threatening to their position?" he asked.

"I'm forced to conclude from this and other signs throughout the country that these are symptoms of a dying regime that is afraid of its own shadow."

Tan dove easily into grassroots work in Wangsa Maju, profiting on his clean record in Gerakan and the reputation of his father, legendary opposition leader Dr Tan Chee Khoon, an MP in neighbouring wards under the Labour Party, Gerakan and Pekemas banners between 1964 and 1978 when ill-health forced his retirement.

For these reasons, the younger Tan is viewed as a formidable candidate in the mixed race seat Wee won with a wafer thin 152-vote majority in 2008.

Both the burglary and the baulked mini ceramah are seen, in the eyes of Tan's would-be opponents, as a confirmation of his good standing among the voters.

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