Page 18 - BOOK inside pages as at Aug 8

The Robbery

trigger, he and his two bodyguards could end up dead.
“This gun is the real thing! Now, do you want to pay? Since
you don’t give me face and won’t pay what you owe us, I want
you to open up the safe and take everything out. Don’t try to
be funny, I can open fire any time. Open the safe NOW! If you
still want to play the fool, I will not hesitate to shoot you first,”
I said menacingly.
It was past midnight. I knew that I could not leave that
place empty handed like the others whom I had deputised to
collect the debt. My reputation was at stake. I could not report
back to Li Chai with nothing to show. Where my men failed, I
had to prove that I could do it.
Mr. Tan had no other option but to open the safe deposit
box in his office and remove all the valuable items including
gold and cash. It all happened in no more than five minutes.
Within seconds after he handed over the valuables, we were
out of the office. Before leaving, we warned them not to do
anything foolish or I would not hesitate to shoot.
As I look back, my actions in those few minutes turned
my life upside down and led to my being put behind bars.
I was doing the bidding of my boss, but also protecting my
own reputation. I had a gun and did not hesitate to use it.
Had I shot someone, I would have ended up being sent to the
gallows. Or I might have been shot and died at the hands of
the rival gang. That was how foolish I was, and I had to pay
dearly for my wrongdoing.
If I had the opportunity to reverse the clock, I would not
have used the gun and would have swallowed my pride and
told Li Chai that I could not convince Mr. Tan to pay. Instead, I
chose to stick my neck out for my boss and for the sake of my
reputation. But I paid the price when I was arrested and had
to spend the next 28 years in prison.

****

Justice took its course swiftly. The following morning at
about 10am, five detectives from the D9 unit of the Kuala

18

BOOK inside pages.indd 18 08/08/2018 05:43 PM