I used to admire former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhammad Mahathir whom I met in 1992 during a courtesy call in Kuala Lumpur. He pulled Malaysia together into a economically vibrant and politically stable nation, as much as Lew Kuan Yew did for Singapore, when the two former federated states decided to separate.
Mahathir’s visceral contempt for the West can be forgiven particularly when he faced off with George Soros, the Hungarian-American financial mogul, and showed that Malaysia won’t be bullied by currency speculators.
But at 86, the aging former prime minister seems to have come unhinged. On the day Americans were commemorating the 10th anniversary of the tragedy and horror of the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States, Mahathir claimed that the whole thing was a US-staged conspiracy!
Mahathir must have been so isolated since he left office. Did he not know that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda had claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington DC and the downing of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania?
To say that Arab Muslims were incapable of such an ingenious plot is also to insult their intelligence. Clearly, Al Qaeda had already claimed bragging rights to the 9/11 attacks when terrorists hijacked four US jetliners simultaneously and smashing two on the Twin Towers, a third on the Pentagon, the seat of the US defense establishment.
A fourth one, United Flight 93 commandeered by the hijackers had targeted the White House. But some of the male passengers heroically fought the terrorists and the plane crashed into an open field in Pennsylvania, killing all the passengers and crew—including the hijackers.
Terrorism remains a global threat. The madness continues even as a once-prominent world figure rants and raves against history.
Although I was not in New York on Sept.11, 2001, the date has special significance for me. I was already home when I flicked the remote control to CNN. It was a little past 9 p.m. Manila time and the same time in the morning in New York.
To my horror, I saw one of the World Trade Center towers in flames with a thick plume of black smoke coming from it. CNN initially reported it as an accident and that the jetliner had crashed into the tower because it was off course. But when I saw another huge plane, the second American Airlines jetliner crashed head on to the other tower, I knew right then and there that this was no accident.
I grabbed my car keys and hurriedly drove back to the Standard office in Port Area. I stopped the press from printing the provincial copies and gave instructions for an immediate remat. I had to make do with the only available staff with no one else left in the office except for the night editor, the layout artist and the copy boy. But by then the Associated Press was already churning out news bulletins and wire photos on The Event of 9/11 that changed how Americans would live their lives. On a global scale, 9/11 also drastically changed how all airline passengers would travel. Air travelers, albeit grudgingly, have come to accept the tight security check at airports.
To make a long story short , the Standard edition on 9/11 made it on the first international and domestic flights out of Manila the next day. Returning PAL passengers said the Standard coverage of The Event was the most comprehensive and complete with all the dramatic photos of the burning Twin Towers.
I have some fond memories of the World Trade Center before the terrorists brought it down. As a press attaché assigned to the Philippine Mission in New York, I used to draw my salary at the then-government-owned Philippine National Bank which was located at one of the WTC top floors.
Pocholo Romualdez, former Editor of the defunct Daily Express and now Malaya’s executive editor, also used to visit the Benedicto-controlled sugar industry office at the World Trade Center. Pocholo would see someone at the Benedicto office whenever he was in New York as part of the Philippine delegation to the opening of the UN General Assembly headed by then-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Gen. Carlos P. Romulo.
Pocholo and I took the subway together to the WTC, he to see his friend, and I to draw my paycheck at PNB. We would then have lunch with other NY-based Filipino friends at the famous Windows on the World restaurant at the top floor of the World Trade Center on Wall Street. From the top, one could get a commanding view of the New York skyline and on a clear day you even could see Central Park .
But nothing can compare to dining at Windows of the World because at night the view is breathtaking – with Manhattan aglitter like a bejeweled lady.
Obliterated by terrorists, the New York landmark may be gone but it will always be a reminder in the fight against terrorist zealots that they will never win in subverting the human spirit.
Bila Che Det buat statement kata orang arab tak mampu kasi runtuh bangunan world trade dan yang buat itu adalah Amerika sendiri, ada wartawan asing yang selama ini respect gila kat dia sangsi samada pada umur 86 tahun Che Det masih segar pemikirannya...bagi wartawan 'Manila Standard Today' Che Det boleh jadi dah NYANYOK!
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