Masami Mustaza
Previous attempts to crack open the safe that was in the Tunku's private office failed. It has been preserved in its original state. The office was also used by a former private secretary of the Tunku, Nik Hassan.
The Tunku moved out in 1972. He died on Dec 6, 1990, at the age of 87.
The mystery of the safe comes less than two months from Merdeka Day on Aug 31 and is bound to spark speculation about its contents.
Malay Mail was alerted to the the safe by film director Mansor Puteh, who is doing a documentary titled "Tunku, the Residency Years" in conjunction with the 53rd Merdeka Day. Said Mansor: "I shot the opening scene of my documentary on June 20 with my brother-in-law and sister.
"I am wondering if the authorities can get a company to open the safe to see what it holds."
Mansor said there could be documents in it, left by colonial officers who lived there and by the Tunku himself.
When Malay Mail visited the memorial yesterday, we saw the safe, a rectangular metal box with a dial lock, atop a chest in the office on the ground floor of the bungalow.
On the door of the safe is a silver plaque with the motif of the British crown.
An employee at the memorial said: "We have no idea what's inside. There may be important things or nothing at all. As far as we know, the combination to the safe has been lost forever."
He said a few contractors were hired two years ago to crack open the safe, but nobody succeeded.
What secrets could it hold?
NOTHING can be more exciting than a good mystery and there could be a big one locked in a safe at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Memorial on Jalan Dato Onn, Kuala Lumpur.
A photographer and I visited the memorial recently, after being alerted by filmmaker Mansor Puteh to the existence of the safe that has remained locked all this while as nobody has the combination to it.
The safe, a rectangular steel box with a dial lock, is on top of a chest in a private study on the ground floor of Tunku’s former official residence, The Residency.
It has a silver plaque emblazoned with the motif of the British Crown and looks rather important.
We asked our guide, who has been working there for eight years, about its contents. “We really have no idea what’s inside. There may be important things in there or nothing at all,” he said.
We asked if there had been any effort made to open the safe.
“As far as we know, the safe’s combination has been lost. A few contractors were hired two years ago to break open the safe but it’s made of some tough stuff and nobody succeeded,” he said.
Our curiosity piqued, we wondered about its contents. Important documents from the British colonial times? Secret love letters from a former British Resident to his local girlfriend? Intelligence on the enemies? An old hanky?
We continued speculating as we made our way through the rest of the exhibits, consisting of personal belongings and souvenirs that belonged to Tunku, and some to his wife, Tun Sharifah Rodziah.
Then my colleague asked: “What if there’s nothing in there?”
I guess that’s something we will only know should the authorities ever decide to try to open the safe.
But then again, it wouldn’t be a mystery anymore, would it?
Malay Mail
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