TRIBUTE ABDUL - Perdana Library

FRANK SULLIVAN
"not a person in the room who regarded (him) with
anything but fascinated, even astounded dissapproval.
Grudgingly one had to marvel at his single-minded tenacity.
Here we had a pure undisguised fanatic" . . . "The only question
which left this remarkable performer flummoxed was a final
one from a woman reporter. 'Can you point to any other country
that supports apartheid?' 'That is not a fair question', he spluttered.
'I would be disclosing confidential information' "
"As we left the building in Mr. Louw's wake we overheard Mr. Bate,
one of his publicity minions, whisper aloud and with some feeling,
'Thank God, that is over."
I mentioned earlier that when the Tunku came to London he
would be facing a task with considerable handicaps. You can see
from the Press conference that Mr. Louw himself was one of the
handicaps. But as it turned out he was to meet his match in
the Tunku.
From this Press conference, Mr. Louw, leaving rather late
went out to Downing Street for the afternoon session, being greeted
on his departure from South Africa House by chants of "Murder,
murder" coming from students on the steps of St. Martin's-in-the-
Fields.
The Tunku returned to Ritz Hotel about a quarter past six that
evening. He seemed pre-occupied, and unlike previous occasions,
he didn't talk about what had happened that afternoon at Downing
Street. It was obvious he had something on his mind and gave no
indication what it might be, For the rest of the night he made no
reference to the Conference. At a quarter to six in the morning
the telephone rang beside my bed. Sleepily I reached for the phone
and heard a voice saying, "Is that you, Frank?". Only half
awake I said, "Who is speaking?" and the telephone replied
It is Tunku here". "I want you to come down here". I half
dressed quickly, grabbed a notebook and pencil, and hurried downstairs.
I should explain here that those who work for the Tunku
know from experience that the early morning is often a time when
he firmly makes up his mind.
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