Screenshots

UPDATED VERSION. Only people who had bothered to read -- and they are so few among Malaysians -- would know Nathaniel Tan (Nat) was the editor for a local bestseller: Mahathir vs Abdullah: Covert Wars and Challenged Legacies, which was published by Kinibooks, the publishing arm of malaysiakini early this year.

Nat, however, was arrested and remanded for violating the Official Secret Act (OSA), an allegation that has yet to be proven.

Nat's parents, Bob Tan and Sukumari Chitty, confessed that they were shaken when they first heard of their son's falling into Police hands.

But people who turned up for the candlelight vigil last night noticed that they remained a portrait of strength.

Indeed, the couple said that they were “not surprised” by the incident as their son, Nat, had always fought for the ‘voiceless’.

Today, four family members and several close friends were permitted to meet with Nat for an hour around 3pm at the Commercial Crimes Department in Bukit Perdana, Jalan Dato Onn, in Kuala Lumpur.

The family has met with him three times since his arrest - late last Friday night in IPD Dang Wangi, on Saturday morning at Jalan Duta Courts Complex, and today. The Police had obtained remand order to detain Nat for four days until July 17.

Here's a brief report Nat's father gave to Malaysiakini today:

“He said that his will has not been tempered by the experience. He said he is drawing strength from the fact that (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim and (PKR information chief) Tian Chua have been (previously) detained.”

Bob added that his son has “taught other prisoners to chant reformasi”, the battle cry of then Keadilan in seeking a wide range of reform in Malaysia from 1998.

Nat began active involvement with PKR since early 2003, working under current information chief Tian Chua. He formally joined the party in March this year.

He is currently also working for Anwar Ibrahim as his secretary at the Foundation for the Future, besides being the PKR webmaster.

'Suspect something might happen'

Bob, a stockbrocker, told Malaysiakini that he always suspected that something would happen to Nat because of his active participation in politics. But he never expected his son to be detained for allegedly breaching the OSA.

Quotes from Nat's parents:

“It was at the back of his mind, that something like this can happen. But he went ahead and did it anyway,” he said.

“He’s the gentlest person I know of ... at his age,” said Sukumari. “He’s very respectful, very courteous and very caring.”

She also said that Tan had an affinity for “fighting for the disenfranchised, people with no voices.”

'Peace & Conflicts'

Nat attended Sunway University College where he studied for his A Levels. He then attended Harvard College in the United States, where he graduated in 2004 with a bachelors degree in ‘Special Concentration: Peace and Conflict Studies.’ It was a unique programme he jointly drew up with his academic supervisor.

He had also served on several humanitarian missions in East Timor in 2001, Sierra Leone in 2003 (on an internship programme with the United Nations) and Aceh in 2005.

“When the Aceh tragedy happened, he left his work in the (United) States. He worked there (Aceh) for four months with the Jesuit Refugee Services,” said Bob.

“He was prepared to suffer privation and (is willing) to sacrifice himself for the good of others,” he said.

“He cares so much for the country. He does not want to run away from the country because of the state it is in. He wanted to stay an make it a better place,” added Nat's mother.

UPDATES: Tonight's Vigil III: Cops request a call-off. But it went ahead from 8.30 to 10.00pm. Anwar Ibrahim was among those present.

"Definitely more people tonight, in spite of the rain, and definitely more media, including the international ones, Eli Wong blogged.

Internationally, both SEAPA and Reporters Without Borders have issued statements of concern, while CIJ has a similar dispatch earlier on.

Meanwhile, Li Tsin and Nat's sister has an update on her blog.

thetrialsofcheryl observed one Inspector Anwar at the Cyber Crimes Unit spend his time playing Red Alert 2 on his laptop.

It is worthy to note that Reporters Without Border is currently compiling on-site input for the next World
Press Freedom Index, which will only end by July 31.