Stumped and Stupefied

Reading statements from a certain vernacular MSM can be quite a hazardous act. Not only do they insult our intelligence. but they also amplify their own deficiency in neurons by bombarding us with their senseless illogical diatribes. Worse still, when they try to bulldoze our quest for truth and justice for Teoh Beng Hock.

It was bad enough when Utusan Malaysia expressed sympathy here for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for being blamed for Teoh Beng Hock’s death. Then it shifts the blame by saying that DAP and its adviser Lim Kit Siang should be held responsible.What a silly spin!

Writing under the pseudonym of Awang Selamat, the Umno-owned daily’s editors accused the opposition party of tricking Malaysians into forgetting the corruption allegation against its leaders by drawing focus to Teoh’s death. How can Malaysians forget issues of corruption when we have lost millions and billions thanks to deceptive forms of corruption that have milked our country of its resources? For crying out loud, what on earth are they talking about?

Yes, - accusations for a paltry sum of RM2400 for which a promising young man died leaving behind his widow, son, family and friends - not forgetting the fact that the case has yet to reach closure.

As if that was not enough, it had the brazen audacity to say “Malaysians have been dragged too deep into this issue (Teoh’s death) until we have strayed from the actual path. The real issue — corruption — has been buried."

Well, to a certain extent, that daily is right. The real issue — corruption — has been buried.

But its definition of corruption and the form of 'burial' differs from many other Malaysians who want to know why cases of alleged corruption amounting to millions and billions have not been investigated at all whilst TBH and Ahmad Sarbaini had to die, at whose hands exactly - we still do NOT know and the culprits are walking around FREE, but carrying within them - guilt and shame.

Their tirade continued in their appeal to MACC officers not to lose morale in their jobs and encouraging them to proceed with their “noble roles”.

Noble roles?

Tell me - how can aggressive interrogation be noble?

Tell me again - why did MACC suspend the three officers then?

In another article, it even said that "it is common for witnesses in corruption cases to commit suicide to avoid shaming their families or organisation".

Normal? Er...do I smell warped perspectives of normality? Abnormality rears its ugly head! For sure, TBH is not a mere anomaly statistically!

You can access the RCI report at this link.

On July 22nd, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) advisory board member Tan Sri Simon Sipaun said he found the verdict of the RCI very unexpected.

"I am just not convinced that Teoh would commit suicide simply because of aggressive interrogations by MACC officers. There is no credible reason or motive why he would take his own life. He was a young man about to get married. He has every reason to stay alive. He did not do anything wrong. When a person is innocent, his will to live is stronger and also to prove his innocence," he said.


"If the MACC officers concerned had broken the law, then the law should take its course."


Meanwhile, another MACC advisory board member Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas told The Malay Mail: "What is most important was that the RCI did not find that Teoh had been killed by someone, which was something that certain quarters had wanted."


On the interrogation issue, Megat Najmuddin said: "RCI has raised the bar on how MACC officers are to conduct interrogations. The MACC interrogators will need to find the threshhold of what is permissible. In an interrogation, you cannot be soft and expect to get answers. Certain techniques must be used to extract information. But it's not like they placed someone's head into a basin of water to get a confession, such as the 'water-boarding' tactic favoured by Western intelligence services against terrorist suspects."


He also said he was not condoning physical violence but that interrogation will involve "some kind of mental torture whether you like it or not" and that some people might accept that and some might not.

Putting that aside, let's dissect Utusan's unsupported allegation that "witnesses in corruption cases to commit suicide to avoid shaming their families or organisation".

According to page 20 of Annual Report 2008 of the National Suicide Registry Malaysia, majority of suicides (as based on the data) took place at home of the deceased 67.2%, followed by death in a residential place and suicide at a Farm/plantation.

Look at the following Table 13 diagram extracted from page 30 of the report.

Note that experience as a corruption witness is NOT mentioned at all in this research that was carried out on 251 cases of suicide at the University Malaya Medical Centre from 2000 to 2004.

Google search engine provides 53 million links on causes of suicide and I am very sure most of the links do not discuss the correlation of being a corruption witness with suicide. This link cites negative life experiences that may cause depression including:

• The death of a loved one.
• A divorce, separation, or breakup of a relationship.
• Losing custody of children, or feeling that a child custody decision is not fair.
• A serious loss, such as a loss of a job, house, or money.
• A serious illness.
• A terminal illness.
• A serious accident.
• Chronic physical pain.
• Intense emotional pain.
• Loss of hope.
• Being victimized (domestic violence, rape, assault, etc).
• A loved one being victimized (child murder, child molestation, kidnapping, murder, rape, assault, etc.).
• Physical abuse.
• Verbal abuse.
• Sexual abuse.
• Unresolved abuse (of any kind) from the past.
• Feeling "trapped" in a situation perceived as negative.
• Feeling that things will never "get better."
• Feeling helpless.
• Serious legal problems, such as criminal prosecution or incarceration.
• Feeling "taken advantage of."
• Inability to deal with a perceived "humiliating" situation.
• Inability to deal with a perceived "failure."
• Alcohol abuse.
• Drug abuse.
• A feeling of not being accepted by family, friends, or society.
• A horrible disappointment.
• Feeling like one has not lived up to his or her high expectations or those of another.
• Bullying. (Adults, as well as children, can be bullied.)
• Low self-esteem.

That site said that while the above causes may trigger depression, and untreated depression is the number one cause for suicide.

And for sure, we know that Teoh Beng Hock was not depressed in the period before his death as he was due to tie the knot on the day he died. Why would a man do a Superman act on the even of his wedding? Remember - he was a voluntary witness, not an accused!!! And the sum RM2400 in question (versus the multi-million dollar PKFZ scandal) was purportedly related to his boss. Moreover, he knew he was a would-be father. He died for that paltry sum which he did not even take!

Can Awang Selamat name one case of corruption where a witness committed suicide, especially the mega million cases?

Instead, they live in luxury, go for overseas vacations and drive fancy cars or own yacht priced at £3 BILLION pounds. Read this example.

The UM report concluded with a totally irrelevant example of a case in Malaysia when a Form 6 Chinese school student, who was accused of taunting a female student, jumped off a building after receiving advice from a counsellor.

I am just so stumped and stupefied at their neuron levels!

Tell me, when will we really see justice for TBH, Ahmad Sarbaini, Kugan and even the EO6?

What will you do, dear Malaysian?

-masterwordsmith