bersilat, keris and songkoks flying

Thursday, September 3, 2009
21 arrested in PKMS fight
21 arrested in PKMS fight

Hammers used in brawl sparked by leadership tussle; 4 taken to hospital

By Jennani Durai & Wendy Hui

Police inspecting the scene of the fight on Changi Road, outside the PKMS office building. Four men were taken to hospital with injuries, including one warded in intensive care with a fractured skull. -- ST PHOTO: BRYAN VAN DER BEEK


AN ONGOING leadership tussle within opposition political party Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS) turned violent on Thursday when the two factions got into a brawl outside its office building in Eunos.
Four men had to be taken to hospital with head and arm injuries, with one of them warded in intensive care with a fractured skull. Police arrested a total of 21 people, two of them women, for rioting with dangerous weapons in relation to the incident, which happened around noon.
Those arrested, who include the four taken to hospital, are aged between 27 and 69. It is not known if those arrested were all PKMS members. Weapons such as hammers and screwdrivers were said to have been used in the fight. Anyone convicted of rioting with dangerous weapons can be jailed up to 10 years and caned.
For the last three years, PKMS has been split into two groups which have been at loggerheads with each other. The police have been called in several times in the past over previous bust-ups involving PKMS leaders. The party's leadership dispute was also brought before the Subordinate Courts.
Madam Lella Mardiiiah Mohamed, who introduced herself as the party's deputy president, said eight members of her team had gone to the PKMS premises on Thursday to change the locks. She said they had sent an e-mail message to the police as well as the current council to inform them of their plans to do so.
Thursday was supposed to be the day the term of the current council, led by president Osman Hassan, ended, she said. Madam Lella, 35, said she and her new council had been voted in at an extraordinary general meeting held last November.
But Mr Osman, 64, said he did not recognise the new team and refused to give up office. 'It's not legal for them to have called that meeting,' he said.
He also said that his council's term did not end on Thursday. It would end only when an annual general meeting is held, Mr Osman said, adding that he will 'fix internal matters' before he calls for one. Madam Lella said her group was stopped just outside the PKMS building by members of Mr Osman's council, including his deputy president Ali Asjadi, who was among those arrested.
Both sides got into an argument and a fight soon broke out. Mr Osman said the other side had started the fight and were the ones who had brought the weapons. 'Last time, I didn't want to get aggressive, but now they forced me to,' he said.
Three other men were also taken to the hospital but were discharged on the same day. Two of them, Mr Yusof Jaffar and Mr Salleh Mohamed Said, were members of Madam Lella's group, while Mr Azhar Ali was from Mr Osman's side.
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times
jennanid@sph.com.sg
wendyhui@sph.com.sg