It was meant to be a quiet drive home for Patrick Lim in the wee hours of Monday morning, after having supper with friends near the Bukit Bintang area.

However, he and two others were instead dragged out of the car he was driving, and a mob that he estimated to number more than 100 descended on them.

A video clip of the attack has gone viral on the social media, showing a group thrashing a black Proton Wira and assaulting several people, while police struggled to disperse the group - until at least one of the policemen pulled out his pistol and pointed it in the air.

Speaking to reporters for the first time since the incident, Lim, 21, said he holds no grudges.

"Many people asked me why don't I want revenge. It is because I have many Malay friends. I don't I want to be a racist.

"We are born in Malaysia, there is no point fighting back. But I hope there will be no more incidents like this again. There is no point. We are Malaysians," he said.

Recounting the incident, the former state basketball player said he felt helpless in the 10 minutes or so when he was being beaten up.

"They treated us like animals," he added, hoping that his assailants would be brought to justice.

Lim was met at a car workshop in Kuala Lumpur where the Wira was taken for repair but was it ultimately decided that the 12-year-old vehicle not be fixed.

Lim said police have informed him that 15 people have been arrested so far in realtion to the mob attack but he has yet to be summoned to identify them.

Mob asked questions first

 

That morning at about 3.30am, he said he was heading home after having supper at a restaurant behind Berjaya Times Square along Jalan Imbi.

 

With Lim were his friends Max Chu and Vincent Peng - both also 21, while another friend and his girlfriend followed in a second car behind.

 

He said upon reaching the intersection of Jalan Imbi and Jalan Sultan Ismail, he saw that the road ahead was blocked by the police and so he decided to make a U-turn.

 

To a question, Lim ( photo ) said he was aware of rioting at Low Yat Plaza earlier that day but did not think the incident would spread.

 

After making his U-turn, he said he saw that the left lane of the three-lane road was blocked by the parked vehicles, while a crowd had blocked the middle lane.

 

He then drove slowly along the right lane because people were criss-crossing the road but noted he and his passengers drew fierce-looking glares as he did so.

 

He said he then heard shouts of, “ Itu Cina! Itu Cina!  (A Chinese! A Chinese!) from the crowd immediately after which a man yanked his car door open (which did not have auto-locking) and asked him if he was Chinese.

 

Lim recounted that before he was able to answer the question, he was asked another: 'Where do you live?'

 

As soon as he gave the answer to the second question, Lim received a punch to the face and this sparked the mob into its frenzied attack on the car and its hapless occupants.

'Covered in blood'

Peng, who was asleep in the rear passenger seat, was the first to be dragged out of the car while Lim and Chu in the front were kicked and punched in their seats for around six minutes as they were wearing seatbelts. They, too, were dragged out shortly after.

 

Peng suffered the worst injuries and is still hospitalised. He is in stable condition following an operation for stitches to his forehead and  to remove glass shards from his body.

 

Lim and Chu suffered mostly bruises and grazes to their head, mouth, arms and legs.

Meanwhile, their friends in the second car had reversed and sped towards the safety of a police roadblock located behind them.

 

“Me and my other friend (Chu) just kept covering our heads, because at the time we had our seatbelts on and it was very hard for them to pull us out,” recalled a traumatised Lim.

 

“But all (my personal items), my phone and my wallet got stolen by them. After that, they started breaking my car windows and jumping on my car.

 

“I still remember there were a few people using hammers, helmets, wheel locks and pieces of wood to keep on hitting and attacking us,” Lim recounted.

 

He said it was another three minutes or so after he was dragged out of his car before police intervened and took him to safety.

 

He said when he looked back then, he saw that Peng was still being viciously attacked.

 

“I saw that his entire face was covered in blood and also his arms. Then I saw someone kick him in the stomach and he went down on the street.

 

“At the time, maybe he was dizzy and confused, one […] quite huge sized […] that Malay guy kicked his head, and straightaway he was just laying down on the road.

 

“Then I saw my friend (Chu) beside the car. One by one, they were attacking him,” he said.

After all three had been removed to a safe area nearby, Peng was rushed to the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital and admitted while Lim and Chu were taken there later for outpatient treatment. Peng has since been transferred to another hospital.

 

'No one could help me'

Lim stressed that he and his friends did not say anything to the mob apart from answering their questions, nor did they do anything to retaliate.

 

He said his group were just concentrating on shielding their heads with their arms from the incoming blows and kicks.

 

He said this in response to allegations circulating online that the group (Lim and his friends) had shouted racist slurs to the mob.

 

“Got people asking me this type of question so I answered them: If you were in my place, with more than 80 to 100 people (surrounding you), would you dare to shout at them and fight with them and be brave like a superhero?

 

“In my situation, I was just shocked. Helpless. No one could help me. They just pulled open my door, asked me those two questions, and straightaway punched me in the face,” he said.

 

Lim said that apart from his smartphone, he lost RM700 cash in the wallet, three ATM cards, a Touch n’ Go card, a SmartTag as well as personal identification documents.

 

He said when he called his banks in the afternoon to cancel his cards, one of the banks informed him that someone had attempted to use his card at a petrol kiosk, but the transaction was rejected due to an incorrect PIN number.

 

As for Lim's car, its rear spoiler had been broken off, its roof crushed with all windows smashed. The body was littered with numerous dents while the front doors were heavily damaged.

 

Lim said the car belongs to his uncle and he does not know the total amount of damage to the car.

 

Furthermore, he said that his insurance company will not cover the loss as his coverage excludes damage caused by rioting and civil commotion.

He also said that he had trouble sleeping after the incident because his aching body prevents him from lying down comfortably.

Related reports

Ku Nan backs review of social media regulation

Low Yat incident lawyer has bad intention: IGP

Umno’s race-baiting root of Low Yat fracas

Time for sanity, as dust settles on Low Yat incident

Bishop wants law against hate speech

Low Yat shows racial ties still fragile

Papagomo, Ali Tinju remanded under Sedition Act

'Heavy-handed police action bad for business'

Perak DAP: We respect the multiracial objective