NOT SO HAPPY TIMES WITH MM

It was somewhere in 1995 or 1996. It was not exactly rosy in MM, at least not for me. I was comfortable with consumerism reporting. I even knew the Minister, Datuk Haji Abu Hassan Omar up-close.
I could walk into his office for exclusives anytime I wanted to, thanks to his PR Man, Francis. Even if I could not see him, I would still get exclusives.
The Ministry was practically owned by the enforcement division. Abdul Jabar Kamin and his officers are my buddies and they never failed to call me whenever there were raids, leaving behind other reporters. Simply because, anything linked to the Ministry was page one stuff.
Then K.Bala left MM in a huff and the scenario changed. Suddenly, crime stories were the Page Ones.
I started off as a crime reporter but after about two years covering the consumer beats, winning awards and accolades along the way, I found it hard to adapt to the new regime.
Nothing worked for me. But I did not have the mood for a career change although there was an irresistible offer from another publication.
After a long talk with my wife, I decided to see Fauzi Omar and asked if I could be transferred out of KL office.
The only problem was that Jaffry Azman was already doing well in Klang, the only MM branch outside Balai Berita.
After a while, Fauzi decided Jaffry needed a change and there I was, running a practically one-man show in Klang.
I moved out of the little double storey terrace house in Ampang and rented a bigger place in Taman Desawan, Klang. My wife found a job at legal office nearby and since Internet was virtually unheard of that time, I had to travel to the headquarters almost every night, sending pictures.
I became a close buddy of the then OCPD, Tuan Aziz Ariarasa. He was so friendly and accommodative that there was no need to know anyone else in the force.
He slept and bathed in the office and anything I wanted information, he would be at his office working....3am...4am...anytime.
Long before Nurin and Sharlinie went missing (they probably were not even born yet), MM broke a story of a Chinese boy who went missing in front of his school. Tin Song Seng is still missing.
Then there was a police shoot-out with a band of robbers leaving nine dead. And of course, the flood which drowned Selangor the same night.
The management was happy with my performance. I seemed to get over the streak of bad luck and delivered Page Ones every now and then.
But then, happy days were about to end.....