The protesters had gone on a rampage, burning down buildings and setting cars on fire, following the murder of an Albanian boy in a small Serbian village in 2004.
Shuhaily, who was part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission, had only one thing on his mind – to stay alive.
“I rushed to my car while evading a barrage of bricks and stones, which had been set on fire and hurled by the protesters.
“I risked my life by driving out of the area while my car was on fire… It felt like I was in a Hollywood movie,” he told FMT, adding that he only sustained cuts.
That chaotic night left him with one valuable lesson: playing the race and religion card can have deadly consequences. Communal politics, left uncontrolled, could ignite a fire that would spread quickly and in a short time throw a country into turmoil, he said.
But it also made Suhaily, who was recently promoted to the post of federal police’s criminal investigation director, appreciate the harmony among Malaysia’s people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds.
“Malaysia is unique that way and I don’t want to lose this uniqueness,” he said.
The Albanians in Kosovo were embroiled in a bloody conflict with Serbians after the Yugoslav Armed Forces attempted to ethnically cleanse the Albanians in the late 1990s.
At the peak of the conflict, forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) intervened by bombing the Yugoslav strategic military points to force a withdrawal from Kosovo and the setting up of a United Nations interim administration.
Malaysian police became involved as part of the UN peacekeeping mission.
The then 30-year-old Shuhaily was stationed in Pristina where he was tasked with training cadets.
Within three months, he spoke the local language and it was this ability that allowed him to learn a lot from his Kosovar Albanian cadets about their struggles.
“They managed to get by on just bread and water due to their meagre salaries but their unwavering energy and determination were remarkable.”
He said he would frequently share meals with his cadets and cover their expenses. “After taking care of the cadets there, I came back to Malaysia with renewed spirit and till today I prioritise the welfare of my men and continue to motivate them,” he said.
Looking back on that fateful night and his 18-month stint in Kosovo, Shuhaily said it taught him the importance of independence.
A decade after Nato secured a peace accord and the return of ethnic Albanians, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, by which time the former Yugoslavia had ceased to exist.