No remorse, respect, accountability

The people who hold office have continually broken our trust in them.

The syariah court claims that in the infamous Teoh Cheng Cheng body-snatching case it was upholding justice, but the irony is that the victims have failed to receive any form of justice.

This incident illustrates the tendency among some civil servants and politicians to treat the Malaysian rakyat like shallow and stupid simpletons. This is not 15th century “Tanah Melayu”, where rabble rousers rule over simple peasants, make them do their dirty work and fight on their behalf to increase their territories. This is 21st century Malaysia where most people are educated and knowledgeable, and only small pockets of the population retain their serf-like mentality.

The men who hold office, whose actions affect our lives, the future of our children and grandchildren, and also the future of Malaysia, have continually broken the trust we have placed in them.

A few days ago, state executive councillor Abdul Malik Abul Kassim said that the Penang Religious Affairs Department (Jaipp) officer who snatched Teoh’s body during a Taoist funeral would not be prosecuted. His excuse was that “the officer had executed his duties in good faith.”

There was a serious breach of trust and respect when Jaipp humiliated Teoh’s family. How stupid and gullible do politicians and civil servants think we are? We can all see when the rakyat is being abused by the authorities.

If any of us had been responsible for a serious error at work, mismanaged company funds, or used company property for our personal benefit, the law would have come down hard on us.

When it comes to someone acting on behalf of a government body, flimsy excuses suffice. There is no accountability and no one is held responsible.

Our children and youth will receive the message that anyone who does wrong or insults another person will go unpunished. Non-Malays will think that hidden hands and Jaipp are complicit in robbing the dignity of non-Muslims despite the Constitution giving them the right to practise their religion.

Most moderate Muslims are horrified by this scandal, but Ketuanan Melayu types will think that it is perfectly acceptable to bully non-Muslims.

The facts are these:

It was alleged that the police had contacted Jaipp and pressured them to seize Teoh’s body.

When Jaipp officers raided the funeral home, they showed a document to Teoh’s family purporting to show that she had converted to Islam in 1997.

Following an investigation, the Penang Syariah High Court ruled that Teoh was not a Muslim.

Abdul Malik said: “It has nothing to do with who won and who lost. The state religious exco office respects the court’s decision and it should be accepted by all parties.”

He said that the Islamic court was upholding justice, even if it involved a non-Muslim.

He also said the Jaipp officer had erred in taking Teoh’s body from her family, that he should have discussed the matter with his department director and the state mufti.

How bureaucracy works

The rakyat knows how Malaysian bureaucracy functions. When we go to any government department, however minor or petty our request is, nothing gets done without the approval of the Pengarah.

Many civil servants lack initiative and Abdul Malik’s statement that the Jaipp officer had acted on his own is unbelievable. Most civil servants only act on orders from above.

In a similar incident, it was said that a junior officer from the Ministry of Health had leaked the story about the alleged presence of porcine DNA in Cadbury chocolates. Junior officers are always blamed and the senior staff are never responsible. Senior staff hide behind their junior staff and make excuses.

Abdul Malik and the officer in charge of the body-snatching gang have apologised to Teoh’s family and reiterated the claim that Jaipp would ensure that similar incidents would not recur.

Body-snatching has happened many times before. The most high profile body snatching occurred to Bunny, the English wife of the late Chief Justice, Mohamed Suffian Hashim. The bodies of Everest climber M Moorthy and Seremban resident Gan Eng Gor were also illegally taken away. In Gan’s case, his eldest son, a Muslim, claimed that Gan was a convert because of alleged inheritance claims (only a Muslim can inherit a Muslim’s property).

Did the police act on a rumour in last week’s body snatching incident to pressure Jaipp into raiding the funeral parlour? If listening to rumours is the modus operandi of the police, why have they not raided Putrajaya and apprehend Najib Tun Razak for his alleged involvement in the Scorpene submarine corruption scandal and in the disappearance of the Mongolian model Altantuya Shaaribuu?

Teoh had allegedly converted 17 years ago, but Jaipp had not visited her or attended to her needs as a Muslim convert when she was alive. Jaipp only turned up to make a big fuss and rob Teoh of her dignity after she had died.

If we are seeking resolution, the answer will not lie with a political party, reformer or personality to lead the nation. The answer lies with you: Do you demand the type of governance you want for your country? Or do you prefer to be a bystander because “awful things happen to other people, not me”? So, as a Muslim, are you happy that religious officers act like thugs?