The Political Circus

Hantu Laut

The RCI (Royal Commission of Inquiry) concluded that Teoh Beng Hock committed suicide as a result of aggressive and continuous interrogation by the MACC.Story here.

The family of Teoh Beng Hock rejected the verdict and is now requesting a judicial review,in all probability, advised by the family lawyer who also happened to be a prominent opposition politician.

“The RCI is an inferior tribunal in law and any decision made by an inferior tribunal is reviewable by the High Court.” Karpal, who is also DAP chairman, said he is studying the RCI report “line by line” to decide on the next course of action, which will be made known early next week.

They condemned the RCI as an inferior tribunal when they were the ones who demanded for it.

How do you deal with these kind of people, they twist and turn to their fancies, not showing concern for the bereaved family but for their own political mileage.

First they rejected the inquest and asked for RCI, which the government eventually agreed and allowed it to take place.Now, they are not happy with the verdict and want to carry on the crusade at the expense of the Teo's family for the benefits of politics.......Pakatan politics!

Enough is enough, the government should not allow these political opportunists to capitalise on a dead man's family misery to gain political mileage.

The government should close the case and take appropriate action against the MACC officers instrumental for the death of Teo.

From the finding of the RCI it is obvious those officers have a case to answer.

Teoh Beng Hock's RCI report - English (pdf download)

Malaysian Graft Probers Caused Political Aide's Suicide

Aide hounded to death, royal commission finds

Opposition party political aide Teoh Beng Hock, whose death in Kuala Lumpur two years ago ignited suspicion that he had been murdered by Anti-Corruption Commission officers, was actually hounded to his death, a Royal Commission of Inquiry announced Thursday.

The suicide death of the then-30 year-old Teoh, who was engaged to be married to his pregnant girlfriend, set off a firestorm in Malaysia’s minority Chinese community. He was found dead on July 16, 2009, on the fifth floor of a building next to the MACC headquarters after being questioned overnight at the Selangor MACC headquarters. He is believed to thrown himself out of a window of the MACC building after being granted a break from questioning.

A second death in April of a 56-year-old customs assistant director named Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed, who was said to have thrown himself out of a third-floor window of the MACC headquarters, has raised more concerns about the agency’s interrogation techniques.

Teoh was called into the MACC headquarters in the middle of the night to be interrogated as a material witness into alleged irregularities in the disbursement of Selangor government funds by his employer, Assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah. As it turned out, Ean was later cleared of any charges of wrongdoing.

An autopsy ordered by the opposition to be performed by the flamboyant Thai pathologist, Porntip Rojanasunand, concluded that the aide had been murdered. Porntip’s autopsy was discarded by the royal commission as erroneous, however. And although the royal commission finding supports government officials’ explanation of the tragedy, the inquiry determined that the suicide was the result of continuous and aggressive questioning by MACC officials.

Three MACC officers were found to have continuously used interrogation tactics that were agresif dan tidak wajar (aggressive, inappropriate) and therefore in violation of the regulations, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz told a press conference in the Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur Thursday. The three officers are former Selangor investigations unit head Hishammudin Hashim, investigation officer Mohd Anuar Ismail and assistant superintendent Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus.

“The MACC conducted investigations following information that a Selangor executive councillor and assemblyperson was involved in false allocation claims for his own party interest,” Nazri told reporters. “Teoh was supposed to be the key witness for MACC which investigated the allegation involving the DAP executive councilor. MACC's investigation mounted pressure on Teoh to make a confession as evidence.”

The MACC officials did not intend to cause Teoh’s death, Nazri said. "He felt pressured and stressed as a result of continuous interrogation techniques." Nazri said that "appropriate action will be taken against those officers involved who went against MACC procedure based on the rules and laws already in place."

The commissioners' conclusion that Teoh had committed suicide was strengthened by psychiatric findings by forensic psychiatrist Paul Edward Mullen, who was engaged by the Bar Council that Teoh was "weak in character."

"Having considered all the evidence in its entirety, we found that Teoh was driven to commit suicide by the aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous interrogation to which he was subjected by certain officers of the MACC who were involved in the ongoing operation by the Selangor MACC on the night of the 15th and into the morning of the 16th," the report concluded.

Nazri said the commissioners, who were unanimous in their decision, have recommended that MACC's interrogation procedures be reviewed.

He added that the government is saddened by the incident that took Teoh's life and gave a commitment that appropriate action will be taken against the officers who had flaunted the procedures. He also urged interested parties, including Teoh's family, to put an end to the “episode” with the report out in public.

Besides concluding the circumstances surrounding Teoh's death, the RCI panel was also entrusted to look into MACC's interrogation procedures. It was recommended that the anti-graft authority review its entrance qualifications, upgrade infrastructure and public facilities and revamp its training schemes. Read more.

‘DAP knows Teoh committed suicide’

Independent MP Wee Choo Keong claims this prompted DAP to withdraw from the royal commission of inquiry.

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP has chosen to withdraw from the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Teoh Beng Hock’s death because it knows he committed suicide, claimed an independent MP today.

Wee Choo Keong alleged that DAP “inside sources” informed him that Teoh, a former DAP political aide, had killed himself and was not murdered.

“According to my sources, DAP is afraid of the RCI’s outcome, because they know about this case,” the Wangsa Maju MP told a press conference at the Konsensus Bebas office here.

“They knew this was a case involving suicide,” added the former DAP and PKR member.

Asked if Teoh’s family might have known about his alleged suicide, Wee replied: “I don’t know about the family. But the DAP side knew about it. Otherwise, why did they pull out?”

On why DAP would withdraw from the inquiry when its leaders, including Lim Kit Siang, were pushing for it, Wee said: “Perhaps DAP did not expect the government to go ahead in setting up the RCI to look into Teoh’s death.”

Wee’s startling revelation comes amid the ongoing inquiry to establish Teoh’s cause of death, after an inquest held into the case saw the coroner ruling out both suicide and homicide.

Teoh was found dead in July, 2009, after being interrogated overnight by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officials at Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam.

Citing a lack of confidence in the RCI, both the Selangor government and Teoh’s family pulled out from the inquiry.Read more.

Teoh's Family Unfortunate Victim Of Muck Racking Politics

Hantu Laut

This is the standard of Malaysians politicians and even worse the standard of journalism in this country, falling prey to muck racking politics.

I do not approve of the way MACC conduct its business nor do I subscribe to the idea that they be given the power to prosecute but one must be able to draw a line between what's right and what's wrong.

First, Kit Siang complaining why the press release by MACC was only in Mandarin is pathetic and scrapping the bottom of the barrel.MACC has the right to decide in whatever language it wishes to convey the message.Obviously, it wanted to cover the wider Chinese community where the main grievances are and naturally Mandarin would be the language of choice.

As a matter of curiosity, since when has Kit Siang been championing the Malay language?

Lee Lan continues to struggle for justice for Beng Hock. — Picture by Choo Choy May

It is obvious that Teoh's death has been much politicised and is still fodder for the opposition's propaganda machine.

Beng Hock’s mother (second right) is still unable to accept her son’s death. — file pic

"While she has been inducted into the Teoh family in a traditional Chinese ceremony last year — which accords her the same rights as if she was officially wedded to Beng Hock — finances remain a concern with their working class background." reported the Malaysian Insider.

Finances have always been the problem of million of working class Malaysians.Would the DAP starts trust funds for all of them?

What about those families where the bread winner died out of illness, accident or murdered and the families have no more source of income.Would the DAP set up trust funds for them?

I challenge Kit Siang and the DAP to do so for each and every deserving case from now on, to raise donations for trust funds for families with no means of livelihood.

Malaysians are easily duped and hoodwinked by politicians in furtherance of their own selfish political agenda.

Big Surprise At Teoh's Inquest

Hantu Laut

Big surprise at Teoh Beng Hock's inquest.Whether it is relevant and can help in finding the cause of his death is not apparent yet.

A witness, one T.Sivanesan claimed he, while under interrogation, was manhandled and tortured by MACC officers.A torn underwear was exhibited as evidence.

The coroner must have good reasons to allow such witness to be brought in to share his experience at the hands of MACC officers.

The question? Is this an inquest or a trail?

Lim Kit Siang's Obfuscated Article And Dirty Rotten Political Scoundrels

Hantu Laut

In sheer desperation to prop up their flagging support and to stonewall the true nature of the death of Teoh Beng Hock, the opposition in general and Lim Kit Siang in particular were prepared to come up with some ridiculous example of, not a Royal Commission, but a judicial review of the mysterious death of a biological expert and weapon inspector David Kelly in Britain in 2003.

Kelly was found dead with his throat slit and was suspected to have committed suicide. Due to controversy on whether he took his own life or was murdered by element involving the government a judicial review or inquiry into the cause of his dead was conducted by the British government.Lim's rather obfuscated article here.

Lim in his article made it appears that Kelly's case is the same as Teoh's and a judicial review is the same as a Royal Commission which he motivated and intended to mislead clueless Malaysians to believe in his ill-conceived expert's stand on the issue.Lim's bad intention can be seen from simply quoting the case in name only without revealing the full extent of the story.

The Kelly's controversy is not simply a mere mysterious death, it involved the security of the nation and reputation of the British government.

Kelly was a civil servant in the Ministry of Defence and was suspected as the source that leaked information to the BBC on the government embellishment of intelligence report on the presence of weapon of mass destruction in Iraq that eventually led to the invasion of Iraq by American and British forces.The 'sexed up' report was attributed to coming from the press office of Prime Minister Tony Blair.The judicial inquiry was chaired by Lord Hutton appointed by the government which eventually concluded that Kelly committed suicide and exonerated the government.

I just thought he had a broken heart

Janice Kelly's evidence to the inquiry

Two days after his death the BBC confirmed that Kelly was their principal contact

In the Hutton's inquiry his wife told the inquiry into his death that her husband had been utterly dismayed by the media frenzy around him.

Janice Kelly said he became: "distracted... dejected... desperate...I just thought he had a broken heart. He had shrunk into himself".

A judicial review is different from that of a Royal Commission as the inquiry falls under the review of one of the branches of government, the Judiciary.The Kelly's case which attained national importance due to leakage of highly confidential information that implicated the British government obviously did not justify a Royal Commission of inquiry .

The judicial inquiry was not born out of oppositions politicising the issue or political gesturing as in the Teoh's case, which has now become DAP's constant battering ram against the government and attempted slaying of the dragon to show who's the people's hero.

It is sad to note that some section of our society is taken in by the opposition's lies and politicized agenda.They have distorted the facts and turned the tragedy into their political capital to rouse racial sentiments to politically benefit the DAP and others of their ilk.

It's requirement of the law that any death under mysterious or suspicious circumstances must have an official inquest to determine the cause of death and the government is doing exactly what the law requires them to do.If the opposition have no confidence in the government it is merely their own opinion and not generally the majority opinion of Malaysians.If Malaysians have not wanted this government they wouldn't have voted them in as the Federal government in the March 2008 Elections and won in 8 out of the 13 states.It was short of just 8 seats to get two-thirds majority.

The oppositions had gone over board because this is the first time they have significant and substantial presence in government and are overly excited at the prospect of being the government soon.It is,therefore,in their interest to create political disquiet, sow the seeds of discontent in the people's mind and destabilise the government. Any slackening of this dirty campaign would mean a nosedive in support.

There is no such thing as a Utopian government, every government is not perfect, each and every one has weaknesses and imperfections.How soiled is the imperfections is the deciding factor whether a government is good or not.

Thomas Jefferson has summed up in the simplest form of what he contrues as good government. He said "The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the only legitimate object of good government." or in even simpler form the Canadian political maxim of "Peace, order and good government"

What have Pakatan been trying to do since after the March 2008 Elections? Weren't they trying to destroy the peace and harmony that the nation has enjoyed for over 50 years, with the exception of the May 13 racial riot, the cause of which is not dissimilar to what the opposition is doing now, inciting hatred of the government.Obviously, Pakatan only have tantalising issues.

Is a Royal Commission really that necessary to determine the cause of death merely based on assumptions and accusations by the oppositions that the government is unreliable and untrustworthy.A Royal Commission is only appropriate if the general public and the government deemed that part of the government system has failed just like in the case of the MACC where the government have doubts on the operating procedures employed by the agency that have directly or indirectly contributed to the death of a witness.To accuse the agency at this stage of homicide and lay the blame at the government's feet is unfair and unjustifiable. We should abide by the legal parlance that 'one is innocent until proven guilty'.

The opposition has threatened to seek audience with the Agong to request for a Royal Commission.

Lim Kit Siang is not a fool or stupid politician, he knew fully well the Agong has no power to call for a Royal Commission on his own.The Agong can only call one upon the advice of the government. To involve the Agong and portray to the people that he can interfere in executive decision is most absurd and could make the government redundant.

This is DAP and Pakatan's ultimate 'sandiwara' to fool the people, the like of those that make regular visits to political blogs, including this one. People with their eyes shut and mind zonged, courtesy of Pakatan's dirty propaganda machinery.

There is no need for the Prime Minister to meet the family of the late Teoh Beng Hock but since he has kindly acceded to their request he should be lauded for it.

Past Royal Commission in Malaysia:

• Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip (2007- )
• Royal Commission for Police Reform (2004)
• Royal Commission to investigate alleged injuries suffered by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim while in police custody (1999)
• Royal Commission of Inquiry into the fire at the Bright Sparklers factory in Sungai Buloh New Village (1991)
• Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate a fire at Sekolah Agama Rakyat Taufikah al-Halimah in Padang Lumat, Yan, Kedah (1989)
• Royal Commission of Inquiry on the collapse of the upper deck of the Pengkalan Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal in Butterworth (1988)
• Royal Commission on the Teaching Services (1971)
• Royal Commission of Inquiry to Investigate the Workings of Local Authorities in West Malaysia (1968)
• Royal Commission on Salaries and Conditions of Service of the Public Service (1965)

The hound dog's cliches:

Najib – turn the first stone to find out the causes and circumstances of Teoh’s unusual death at MACC by respecting the family’s wish and set up Royal Commission of Inquiry.Read it here...

TBH RCI – Has Gani Patail never known of the Hutton Inquiry into the causes and circumstances of David Kelly’s death?.Read it here...

One thing I would agree with Lim Kit Siang is, YES, we do need a new IGP.The force needs some very serious shaping up to bring back respectibility and restore public confidence.

Read This:A New Disclosure

Hantu Laut

Is the MACC being flogged for crime that might have been committed by others.These are questions better asked by the police.We should not even in a moment of anger compose anything that's we are unsure of or have no evidence to support.

I wouldn't for a moment thought of such an extraneous subject let alone broach about it.

A possibility far remove from the thunderous storm whipped up by the oppositions against the Najib's government over the death of one Teoh Beng Hock. A death that has become a cause celebre of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat or a probable diversion from the truth, no one knows for sure.

A new blog has sprung up that tells a completely different story, one that will be vehemently denied, not on how Teoh died, but on the probable cause of his death. The blog is here.

Read with caution.

Pakatan supporters already saying the blog was put up by UMNO.Waiting for what Lim Kit Siang has to say.Raja Petra has his say here.

Pakatan's Gesture Politics

Hantu Laut

What is an inquest?

An inquest is a judicial investigation to find out the cause of death especially those that happened under mysterious or suspicious circumstances.In some cases, accidental death can also end up in an inquest to determine the true cause of death.

An inquest is usually presided over by a magistrate who acts as a coroner.If foul play was found than a full enquiry and criminal prosecution may follow.

An inquest, not a Royal Commission, is the first judicial step to find out the cause of death. If criminal act was established than the case can proceed with its prosecution. Alternatively, if the government is not satisfied with the finding of the investigation it can than call for a Royal Commission.

Why are people like Lim Kit Siang and Anwar Ibrahim making senseless objections to what they know very well is the first step to establishing the cause of death.Their attempts at politicising the tragedy is most disgraceful and shows their heartless disrespect for the family of the deceased. This is a time of grief where even the choice of words must be chosen with care.The least said the better it is for the bereaved family.

People like Lim and Anwar probably have never lost their loved ones and do not understand the pain, the agony and the heart breaking moment of losing someone you loved dearly. This heart wrenching experience are only known to those who had the misfortune of losing their loved ones.

Having gone through the ordeal twice in the past thirty years, I feel for the immeasurable pain of members of the family and fiancee of the late Yeoh Beng Hock and the nonsense that they have to go through every day played out by Pakatan leaders, politicising and publicising the tragedy, to lessen not the sorrows of the family but to serve Pakatan's political agenda.How cruel and selfish can one gets to gain political mileage at the expense of other people's grief.

The government and the Prime Minister himself has taken personal interest in the case to ensure justice will be served.He has done more than what is necessary to ensure no cover up and the truth be told to the family and the public upon completion of all the necessary investigations.

It is most unfortunate that we do not have responsible opposition in this country.At a time like it they should be fraternizing to help the government to get to the bottom of the tragedy and allow full investigation before making all kind of unfounded allegations and politicising the tragedy to incite the people's emotions.

What is gesture politics?

Gesture politics is an action made by a person or organization for political reasons and is intended to attract public attention but has little real effect.

A Royal Commission It Will Be

Hantu Laut

Manik Urai came and gone.

When I wrote about the impossible possibility of the result of the by-election my friend Bernard Khoo of Zorro Unmasked poked fun at my predictions.You can read his condescending article here.

Well, as good as it gets, Manik Urai went the way I predicted.PAS almost fall flat on its face winning only by inches this so-called impregnable fortress which my friend thought was just my wild imagination.Below is a paragraph from the article I wrote.

'UMNO has a good chance of narrowing the majority gap or even wrestle the seat from PAS if they work hard enough.Most of their losses in past by-elections were due to loss of confidence,demoralisation, bad planning and poor strategy'

You can read the full story here.


With only 65 votes difference and over 100 spoiled votes, UMNO took the loss with a bold face.There were no ruckus or fracas, UMNO took it in its stride, accept the loss in a gentlemanly manner.

Flip the coin and imagine it was PAS in UMNO's shoes and with 65 inches between them you can bet your bottom dollar the whole Pakatan mob will descend on Manik Urai and scream for countless recounts.Cheating, vote buying, phantom voters and every word in the hocus-pocus dictionary would be the call of the clarion, Pakatan's standard allegation against the BN government in every elections and if they lose going to the streets is standard procedure.

The politicising of the death of Teoh Beng Hock is another Pakatan ways of demonising the government and the Prime Minister. A Royal Commission will put to rest any speculation on Teoh's death.

I believe the PM will allow and announce the formation of a Royal Commission.It is good for the people, the government, the nation and the Prime Minister himself.

On a lighter mood, why is former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi telling us this? He has plenty of time to do it in his first full term and the right time because he has more than two-thirds majority in Parliament at that time.

ECLIPSE OF THE SUN

Malaysians can watch partial eclipse of the Sun tomorrow 22 July around 9-10 a.m.

Maximum eclipse
Duration	398 s (6 min 38.8 s)
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	22°27′08″N 090°28′04″E / 22.45222°N 90.46778°E / 22.45222; 90.46778
Max. width of band	258.4 km

On 24 October 1995 I watched a total solar eclipse at a small village called Matunggong at Kudat in Sabah.With a few friends we stayed at a friend's farm overnight to watch the eclipse next day.

Below is a solar eclipse viewer which we used to view the eclipse.





Do not view a solar eclipse with your naked eyes.

There is still no sign of the effect of the proxigean spring tide.Probabaly a lull before a storm.Things might change with tomorrow's eclipse of the sun.