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Aide’s death a tragedy for the entire nation PDF Print
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Thursday, 23 July 2009 14:43

There is need to find out for certain what happened in the case of Teoh Beng Hock and to punish those who are responsible.

By AZMI SHAROM, The Star

I HOPE there will be an independent Royal Commission of Inquiry formed to investigate the tragic death of Teoh Beng Hock. Anything less will simply not satisfy our demand for the truth.

Unfortunately for the nation, faith in the legal system of this country is very low. Therefore, for the sake of answering the many questions surrounding this young man’s death, a body which is outside the system and is trusted to be impartial must be created and left alone to do its job.

There is absolutely no point in telling the people to place their trust in the police investigation. In high profile political cases like these, the police are, rightly so, seen as little more than the servant not of the people but of the government of the day.

The MACC interrogated this young man for hours. He was not even a suspect, merely a witness. Yet they kept him in custody into the early hours of the morning.

This may appear to be a determination to do one’s duty to the utmost (after all corruption is corruption even if it involves RM10).

But the issue is not simply about fighting corruption, it is about double standards.

The victim was a worker for the Selangor Pakatan government. Specifically, he was working for a DAP member of the state legislative body.

There are huge cases of supposed corruption in Selangor, yet, the MACC or its previous incarnation the ACA has not tackled these cases with even the slightest bit of enthusiasm as they have with the DAP state legislators accused of wrong doing.

Why is this so? It is because this is a political case and if Teoh had not been working for who he did, he would not have been in that building at all.

It is, however, not a racial case. At the small vigil held at the MACC building the day Teoh died, and at the Kelana Jaya rally, not once did anyone mention race.

Not one person accused the MACC of being Malay bigots. It was not mentioned by the speakers or even people in the crowd.

People were angry, yes, but they were angry over the needless death of a young Malaysian man, not a young ethnic Chinese man.

They were angry at what they think was the abuse of power by MACC officers, not the abuse of power by Malay officers.

And here you have some saying that the outrage felt by the people is racially based and an attempt to topple a Malay institution.

Malay institution? The MACC stands for Malaysian Anti-Corrup-tion Commission, not Malay Anti-Corruption Commission. Either these people are too moronic to see the difference, or they are up to something more insidious.

By painting this as a race issue instead of what it truly is, a human rights and democracy issue, they seek to divert attention from the crux of the matter.

It is also possible that they truly believe that government institutions like the MACC are supposed to be Malay institutions, in which case they show themselves to be the utter racists that they are and, if this is so, they should be treated with nothing but the utmost contempt.

A young man with his entire future ahead of him died needlessly last week. He leaves behind a grieving family, a devastated fiancée and an unborn child who will grow up without a father.

On the most basic compassionate level, the need to find out for certain what happened and to punish those who are responsible is imperative.

But the death of Teoh Beng Hock is more than just about the death of one man. It is about the future of democracy in this nation.

At a time when young men and women feel the change in the air, when they feel a difference can finally come and they seek to do nothing more than serve the public in thankless tasks, they see that this desire to do good can be rewarded with death. What does this bode for the future?

Teoh’s story is a tragedy for those who loved him and those who knew him.

It is also, sadly, a tragedy for the entire nation; a tragedy made all the worse if we do not go on striving for the values and ideals that this young man obviously believed in.

The creation of an independent investigative body is necessary.

May you rest in peace, Beng Hock.

Dr Azmi Sharom is a law teacher.

Editor’s note: The article was written before the Cabinet agreed yesterday to set up an inquest into the death of Teoh Beng Hock as well as a Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into the interrogation methods used by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Comments (16)Add Comment
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written by SCOng, July 23, 2009 15:04:12
Think the Perak trick is taking place in Selangor now, and these dogs are planning something that need TBH to collaborate with them. So they force and intimidate TBH to give in....
Then, what if TBH had secretly recorded the entire event with his mobile phone recording function, but being found out by those dogs? Because those dogs are dying to get that phone, a series of struggling and fighting lead to the tragedy...
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written by rocky, July 23, 2009 15:16:34
The average Malay is not racist. it is only those in power within UMNO/BN and those in the media who need to do the spin so as to divide the country. By dividing the country, they hope their masters will continue to be in power while they get perks including datukships.

they can't differentiate right and wrong even when they religion ask for it. Corrupt fellows.
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written by Bigjoe99, July 23, 2009 15:30:04
Anyone who does not vote to kick out BN/UMNO is a PATHETIC SELF-ABSORBED LOSER because its simply logic to do so. Not about politics, not about race, not about morals, policies. Just sheer logic....
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written by gwc, July 23, 2009 15:51:09
finally we have someone working for the BN control media who speaks like a human being and best is that he is not a chinese as most of those cilaka ppl tot all the time tis is a racial issue. Tis is wat we call talk wit sense not wit their ass
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written by mick_err_stan, July 23, 2009 16:06:10
A young Malaysian serving the Rakyat was murdered over RM2,400..while others live like Kings in mansion, Holiday in Disneyland and some pocketing millions with NFA from MACC. Where is the justice
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written by MSIABOLEH, July 23, 2009 16:06:35
Anyone who does not vote to kick out BN/UMNO will have blood on his or her hands too.
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written by Hello Keithy, July 23, 2009 17:00:19
We will remember Teoh Beng Hock's tragic unexplained death. We will remember the day and tell our children about it. This is the Malaysian institution where innocent people died for the cause of a group of corrupted leaders taking revenge on the opposition. Therefore we must take down UMNO, the main culprit in our institution.
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written by budakindia, July 23, 2009 17:16:23
How to punish with a commission investigating MACC's procedures and an inquest looking at his death? There's some serious gaps to be filled here! Najib truly has lost touch with the rakyat! He's trying to bluff his way through! smilies/angry.gif
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written by truthbespoken, July 23, 2009 17:29:23
Azmi,

Good on you for speaking up as it should be said! We need more local journalists and columnists who are upright, fair and bring pride to the profession. More so, if they are done with consistency.
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written by Kathy, July 23, 2009 17:44:31
Remember Teoh Beng Hock when you go to the polls. smilies/angry.gif
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written by jason, July 23, 2009 17:47:29
Dr Azmi Sharom, couldn't agree with you more. You are a fine example of a good muslim/malay.
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written by JJFoo, July 23, 2009 18:37:14
"Aide’s death a tragedy for the entire nation" and the nation deserved it because they can’t do a thing about it. The people deserve the leader they choose, deserved the situation they are in.

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written by asguard, July 23, 2009 22:01:32
The crooks and thieves from UMNO are to be blame for entire fiasco that happen before our very own eyes... because greedy for power they willing to do anything... include... let a man got killing in process.. of grab power....
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written by yy88, July 23, 2009 23:28:19
Dr Azmi,
I have always respected you and Imtiaz as 'Men to watch' in the legal circle. Your open thoughts and impartiality will be the way to go for the Malaysian race.
As a supplementary subject in your lectures, do remember to advsie your student not to repeat the mistakes our great Indian mamak dr. committed in his 22 years of ruling Malaysia. We are in such a social chaos today mainly due to his 'excellent' nation disunity programme. He is the 'Bapa Pencerobohan Institusi2 Malaysia' and shall be remembered as such.
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written by sarawakian, July 24, 2009 01:03:43
did this really appear in The Star??

and regarding

and to punish those who are responsible


as long as humans have the "an-eye-for-an-eye" attitude, we will never evolve to a higher being. what is needed to be done is to remove all these corrupt/wicked people and those who put them there and replace them with people who SERVE the interests on Malaysians and not just a few elite persons.
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written by Urangsabah, July 24, 2009 05:10:17
A very good piece which i hope is read by the very people it is aimed at.....

The Enforcementr Agency, The Judiciary, & Most of All the 1 Malaysia PM......quoting Dr Azmi"Unfortunately for the nation, faith in the legal system of this country is very low.

Therefore, for the sake of answering the many questions surrounding this young man’s death, a body which is outside the system and is trusted to be impartial must be created and left alone to do its job.

There is absolutely no point in telling the people to place their trust in the police investigation.

In high profile political cases like these, the police are, rightly so, seen as little more than the servant not of the people but of the government of the day."


From me Urang Malaysia.....The Power That Be, do you have any conscience (an ability or a faculty that distinguishes whether one's actions are right or wrong)
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