Pudu Prison

About the Book

The imposing gate house or the main gate tower block of Kuala Lumpur’s Pudu Jail can be seen if one passes through Jalan Hang Tuah. There is nothing romantic or appealing about this bastion of law and punishment. Thousands of prisoners have passed through the 116-year-old prison, and hundreds have been executed within the walls for crime such as murder, kidnapping, drugs, and firearms possession. Read the gripping story of the happenings in this prison.

About the Author

Nor Shahid Mohd Nor was born in Taping Perak on the fifteenth of October 1933. In January 1946, soon after the Japanese occupation of Malaya, he was sent to King Edward the VII School in Taiping. He then followed his police inspector father on transfer to Kuala Pilah, where he went to Tuanku Muhammad School. In 1951, he again followed his father to Seremban and went to King George the V School in Seremban. He studied there till he sat for his senior Cambridge examination in 1955. His ambition was to become a police inspector but, after a couple of interviews, was unsuccessful. He joined the police department as a police clerk interpreter for a couple of years before joining the prisons department as a cadet officer in July 1957. In January 1958, he was sent for a three-month recruit training course at the Prison Officers Training School in Taping and, on completion of the course, was transferred to Penang Prison on the first of April 1958 for practical training. In January 1959, it was back to the training school for Cadet Officers Training in prisons administration and law. On the first of August 1960, he was transferred to be the officer in charge of Melaka Prison. In April 1963, he was sent for a nine-month course at the United Nations Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders in Tokyo, Japan. In 1970, he was promoted to assistant superintendent of prison and transferred to Taping Prison. He was again transferred to Muar Prison after his promotion to deputy superintendent in 1976. He became the superintendent of Pudu Prison after being promoted in 1978. After three years, he was promoted to senior superintendent and was transferred to prisons headquarters in 1982 to assume duty as the director of Prisons Security. He retired as the deputy director general of the Malaysian Prisons Department in 1989. During his thirty-three years of service to the department he was awarded, the Kesteria Mangku Negar (KMN), Ahli Mangku Negara(AMN) by the Yand Di Pertuan Agong, Ahli Mahkota Perak (AMP) by the Sultan of Perak, and various service medals such as the PPA, PPS, PPM, and the Pingat Ketua Pengarah Penjara.