Probationary Inspector Nathan Ha Thiam Shoon 17th March, 1962
Retired Police superintendent Nathan Ha will be launching his book ‘The best not honoured’ on Oct 26 at Grand Margherita Hotel in Kuching. thesundaypost recently talked to the author about his book and review it.
Twenty five years after he retired from the police force as a Superintendent, Nathan Ha takes a look back at his career describing it as “an unforgettable trail of sweet, bitter and ugly journey” in his book ‘The Best Not Honoured’.
For the older generation in the state especially those in Kuching the name Nathan Ha is synonymous to crime busting.
From the mid 1960s to the early 80s he was the proverbial ‘thorn in the in the side’ of gangsters, petty criminals, gamblers and anyone who stepped on the wrong side of the law.
Yet for all his achievements, discipline and excellent track record Nathan’s rise through the ranks of the police force was littered with disappointment and obstacles.
Although he retired from the police force as superintendent, he could have gone higher of he had ‘played his cards’ right.
Talking to him on the launching of his book recently, I have a feeling that there was a bitter taste in his mouth when he looked back at his career.
That bitter taste is reflected in the title of his book, ‘The best not honoured’.
Nathan’s strength in his police career is his honesty, discipline and fearlessness.
He is a man who does not mince his words calling a ‘spade a spade’ and airs his views without fear.
However, that strength was also his ‘weakness’ because along the way his forthright character rubbed some people the wrong way and he inevitably stepped on their toes.
Despite his frustrations Nathan looks back at his career with satisfaction and a forgiving heart.
In a recent interview with The Sundaypost, I asked him if he ever regretted becoming a policeman his answer was an emphatic ‘No’.
To emphasise his answer he added, “If I were to live my life over again I will still choose to be a policeman.”
Age has mellowed the swashbuckling crime buster and he does not hold any grudge against anyone declaring that now he has no enemy because he has forgiven all those who had offended him.
Admitting that he might have caused some distress to someone along the way he also wrote in his book he hoped “… those who believed that he had done them injustice in the execution of his duties in maintaining public peace will forgive him.’
His relationship with the criminals and gangsters he arrested or detained evolve from fear to respect.
They feared him because he would stop at nothing to haul them up but they respect him because he always kept his word with them.
Towards the end of his career the gangsters referred to him a ‘Ha Shuk’ which means ‘Uncle Ha’ because they knew he was always very firm but he could also bend backward to negotiate with them.
In one episode recorded in his book Nathan recounted how he hammered out a peace deal between two notorious gangs in Kuching.
Born in Kuching, Nathan had two years of Chinese education before enrolling at St Thomas’s school but his education was cut short when he was told to leave at form two as the school deemed he was not good enough to go on to form three and sit for the Sarawak Junior Certificate.
His appeals to continue fell on deaf ears and so at the age of 20 he joined the then Posts and Telegraphs department as a mechanic in 1955.
He was to prove the school wrong a few years later when sat for the Sarawak Junior Certificate as a private candidate and passed.
A strange twist of fate launched Nathan’s career as a policeman.
One day when visiting his aunty at her home in his departmental uniform he was introduced to a police inspector who was engaged to his cousin.
When he extended his hand to shake the inspector’s hand, the police officer refused to shake hands with him.
Although he was stung by the insult, the young man did not show any emotion but instead vowed in his heart to join the police force to prove to the inspector that he could be just like him.
That very night he wrote to the Commissioner of Police to join the Sarawak Constabulary to be a police inspector.
But with just a form two leaving certificate, Nathan’s application was rejected.
Undeterred he joined the Auxiliary police, a voluntary force, as a constable before applying to join the force again.
His persistence paid off as the commissioner impressed by his enthusiasm accepted him but as a police recruit in 1957.
From then on Nathan had to work his way up to superintendent going through close brushes with death, gruesome encounters and his share of light moments.
In his book Nathan wrote about some his more memorable moments and reminisces about his relationship with fellow officers who had influenced him in his career.
He also recalled how on one occasion he cheated death by surprising communist insurgents who waited in ambush along a small path at Batu Kawah by borrowing a motorcycle to go back to the town.
The communist insurgents thought he and his colleague would be walking back along the path as they went on foot to the house of the people they wanted to interrogate and so missed their target.
In many ways Nathan’s story reflected the growth of the police force of the state.
His story is told in a straight forward simple manner very much the way he lived his life.
‘The best not honoured’ is an honest account of the professional career of a cop who was once branded, ‘The most stupid policeman’ by a professional gambler.
Nathan accepted that seemingly dubious title with pride because he once turned down a bribe from that man when he raided his premises that was used as a gambling den.
Perhaps he could have written more about the cases he handled because they are the most interesting part of the book.
Overall this book should provide interesting reading not only for the older readers who are familiar with the cases and names mentioned in it but also for younger readers as it also gives an insight into the police force in the early years.