Written by former crime reporter Syahril A Kadir, the book is a confession from a man whose life had been dealt a bad and tragic hand of cards.
More than that, the book is the 53-year-old’s way of dispelling a lie that had been believed by the country for decades over the truth behind the bloody incident in the popular Chow Kit area in the heart of Kuala Lumpur in October 1987.
The book discourse last night was also attended by two men who played a big part in Adam’s life – Brigadier General (Rtd) Abdul Ghani Abdullah, who persuaded Adam to surrender and in doing so helped save his life and the lives of others, and Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who went to great lengths to defend Adam in court, based on the military oath that “we will leave no man behind”.
Almost 30 years ago, on the night of Oct 18, 1987, Adam ran amok in downtown KL with an M16 rifle, wildly firing away. One man was killed when a bullet had ricocheted and hit him, while another man was injured.
The next day, Chow Kit was a ghost town, with no one allowed to enter as the situation was tense. Police snipers were tasked with locating Adam but to no avail.
Eventually, Adam was persuaded by his superior to lay down arms and surrender.
According to Syahril, the incident gave rise to an urban legend that Adam ran amok as his sibling, a caddy, had allegedly been murdered by the then Johor sultan.
“For 30 years we have been fed with the story that Private Adam ran amok because his younger sister was (allegedly) murdered by the sultan.
“As a reporter I was also influenced, until one day I posted on Facebook a question: Is it true that the incident occurred as he wanted to avenge his sister’s death at the hands of a sultan?”
At 3am the very next day, Syahril received a private message on Facebook from someone who claimed that Adam was with him.
“I was shocked. I asked, is it really Adam? The man said Adam was now a homeless man, gathering scrap metal to be sold.
“I asked if I could meet him and flew to Penang for the meeting that was set up.
“I was not even sure if that was the Adam in question. Back then he was in his 20s, looking beefed up in his army gear.
“But the man before me was old. He is 53, but he looked 60. He was also scrawny and messy-looking,” Syahril said.
Adam then opened up to Syahril on the reason for his willingness to meet up with the veteran journalist.
“For 30 years I have been slandered. My family ostracised me. Society insulted me.
“People said I ran amok because my sister was murdered by the Sultan, but that was far from the truth. It had nothing to do with it.
“But for 30 years, people have been saying that. I do not know how to tell everyone. I am not well. Soon I will die. I am counting on you to tell the true story. Write a book and tell my story,” Adam had said, according to Syahril.
Syahril was not entirely convinced that readers would believe the words of a drug addict.
“I told him, you cannot lie to me. I will sit with you for a week. So tell me your story. Everything.
“And so it was the case for a week. But from there I realised Adam’s story alone will not carry weight, so I sought out Shafee and Ghani.
“It was then I found out, that even though he is a homeless drug addict, and had been treated at Hospital Bahagia in Tanjung Rambutan, whatever he said tallied with what Ghani and Shafee said,” Syahril said.
Syahril said he had also wondered if any publisher would be willing to put out the book he wrote on this dark chapter in Malaysia’s history.
“I met various book publishers, but no one was willing to publish it.
“They were afraid of the implications, hence were reluctant,” he said, adding that eventually, only Dubok Press was willing to publish the book, which is now entering its second printing.