IT hasn't been a good week for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. After being first accused by Dap politician Teresa Kok of targetting Chinese (opposition) politicians, it found itself just days later under more intense scrutiny when a witness it had met earlier to record a statement was found dead the following afternoon outside the building which houses the commission.
The death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock at the young age of 30 was tragic. There cannot be any other way except to sympathise with his family, no matter what your race, religion and political beliefs.
The investigation has just started and nothing is being spared. One report says four pathologists are involved while another said the police had also agreed to allow a state appointed pathologist to assist. As it is those of us not involved in the probe have no way of knowing the full story -- the sequence of events. In such a situation I exercise patience and tell myself to allow the investigators to complete their work rather than point fingers, blame people without proof, cast aspersions on the integrity of people and in the process work up emotions and sentiments against the establishment.
By my reckoning because of the very nature of their job, politicians should be the first people to show restrain and not say anything that might stoke the fire. Instead what we are seeing is exactly the opposite. But they are not the only ones. Online I have read all kinds of nasty comments, allegations and insinuations. Some go straight to the point to suggest that the MACC and by extension Umno which leads the federal government are in fact a bunch of murderers, assassins. If you think this is coming from young people still wet behind the ears and prone to believe hearsay instead of facts you are dead wrong.
The nasty writings I have seen have come from the elderly, the highly educated, people who used to hold senior positions at work and yes, guys who for reasons known only to themselves still hang on to their Umno membership!
You may agree or disagree with the MACC for interviewing Teoh from late Wednesday afternoon to 3.45am the following day but to categorically state that he was tortured I don't think I can agree with. Worse this statement in which the writer sounds absolutely sure of comes from someone who's on the run from the authorities and is probably thousands of miles away from Shah Alam!
That questions are being asked about Teoh's death is nothing unusual. What I find tough to compute is to expect the commission to provide answers as to why a young man like Teoh would want to take his own life. How would you know what was going on in his mind on Thursday?
This was what the NST said Selangor state exco A. Xavier Jayakumar had asked: "...the MACC has to answer why a normal man in his 30s would want to take his own life over a simple allegation of misappropriation of funds? We must have those answers for his family."
Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua expressed disbelief that Teoh would want to spend the night at the MACC. "Anyone who had spent so much time being questioned would want to go home once he was released."
Like I said I don't think anyone could have answered the questions posed by Jayakumar, definitely not the MACC. As to Pua's remark, this too does not have a yes or no answer. Teoh may have truly wanted to sleep on the couch at the MACC, as stated by the commission. We don't know his state of mind then. After all it was that late in the day and although he had his car with him as mentioned by Pua, Teoh could have been truly exhausted and sleepy. That would make sense of his decision to want to sleep there, if this was truly what he had decided to do.
I think all of us not linked or related in any way to Teoh will feel better if we don't jump to conclusions. We will feel calmer if we can tell ourselves that stranger things have happened. People have taken their own lives for less although I must caution here that I'm not suggesting that Teoh took his. I'm just trying to tell people that in life there are all kinds of possibilities, no matter how ludicrous they may seem.
May the truth prevail.
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