“Honourable ministers of government, honourable Members of Parliament, our various political leaders, fellow mourners, I thank you all for this vigil. I arrived from Seattle, USA [where Jacob Oulanyah died] via Dubai today (March 22, 2022) in the afternoon with [Democratic Party President] Norbert Mao. Sadly, we came back with Hon Mao empty-handed. We left, not [11th Parliament Speaker] Jacob Oulanyah, we left the body of Jacob Oulanyah lying in a cold room in a top cancer institute; a world-renowned cancer institute in Seattle [in the Pacific west coast of the US].
When I listen to people talking about Jacob Oulanyah, I will just sum it in one sentence: that he was larger-than-life. We have said many things about Jacob Oulanyah, but then there is one thing that nobody wants to say. He was a very strong-willed person and could be very difficult. I was privileged to be one of the very few who could bully him and I did bully him a number of times. But to earn that respect for Jacob Oulanyah to accept to be bullied by anyone, it means I meant a lot to him and he also meant a lot to me.
