PM Gives MACC More Power If…

PM Najib made overtures to the rakyat of Malaysia to give BN the customary 2/3 number of seats and in return to ensure that MACC has the power it should have gotten since day one (read here.)

One can expect the instant reaction by Malaysians to laugh at such political rhetorics that BN and our beloved PM cannot come up with any substantial reason for the people to keep voting them.

Giving MACC the full power to do the job is expected of the government of the day and in this case, the BN Government. If amendments to the Federal Constitution is needed, all MPs will gladly support the rightful changes because it is for the good of the country. It will be a bi-partisan vote for sure. The Opposition will not object and will support this good cause.

Obviously, the BN Government has ran out of reasons why they should be voted back into power with 2/3 seats if Federal Constitution amendments is the only reason.

How about BN making the lives of all Malaysians better regardless of race and religion and location? It is back to the basics for BN if they cannot tell what they must be doing now given the mandate of the people. Today, everyone is saying that BN stands for “barang naik” (price increase) and that is exactly how the economy is shaping up. No more subsidies, prices go up, more taxes in various forms like the impending GST, the impending 1Care, the rise of sugar, rice and meats prices, all are burdening the people greatly.

Yet our PM is saying that there is little inflation and we are doing so well as a nation. Again spending money to put a positive spin on a poor economy and the lives of people suffering now.

Why can’t BN come out with clear precise and concise reasons why Malaysians should vote BN once again? We just can’t have a you help me, I help you syndrome. We just can’t be bought with RM500. We need a sustainable strategy to survive into the future. We need a way to direct money back to the economy and the people from wasteful billion ringgit projects.

What has Najib to offer us now?

MACC Binocular Bullshit

The MACC rushed to investigate the Auditor General report that there was the anomaly of procuring two pairs of binoculars for RM100,000 when a check showed that they could have been bought for a mere RM5,000.

The verdict was that some officers didn’t follow procedure and they would be handled accordingly as an internal matter and the case is now closed.

Try to do that in any private company and the Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) will be slapped on you. The auditor report is crucial to ensure that monies entrusted to officials are properly used for the intended purpose with no impropriety but in Malaysia, even the highest office of anti-corruption can sweep this obvious corruption under the carpet.

Teoh Beng Hock Suicide?

A royal commission has ruled that Teoh Beng Hock committed suicide as a result of pressure from aggressive and continuous questioning by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers (read here).

Without having read the entire report, this press brief by Nazri and James Foong is set to stir the hearts of Malaysians yet again like another wave after Bersih 2.0.

It may appear that the RCI report had vindicated MACC and will give Nazri some brownie points of “I told you so”.

But will the report truly answer the questions in the minds of TBH’s family and Malaysians around the country?

1. Was the so-called suicide genuinely one?

The news report said that TBH appears to become psychologically unstable to want to commit suicide after he was subjected to continuous aggressive questioning methods by 3 MACC officers.

A psychiatric forensic expert appears to lend credence to this conclusion.

It appears that there is no hard conclusive evidence pointing to a suicide but rather flimsy circumstantial evidence to lead to such a conclusion.

If TBH was driven to such a stage in a matter of hours, someone must have helped him to “commit suicide”. Either forcing him to stand on the ledge or even pushing him off. These are also circumstantial speculation.

By saying TBH’s death is purely suicide is letting the MACC off the hook too easily.

2. If the so-called suicide was not a willing self infliction, how can it be called a suicide?

All suicide cases happen when the deceased has gone through a prolonged psychological stress where they can’t seem to find a way out any longer despite trying their hardest and rationalizing their actions. Then they make that fatal step to end their lives.

This is not the case of TBH. A few hours of torturous questioning cannot overcome his life long anticipation of getting married the next day or awaiting the birth of his new born baby. He does not appear to be at the end of his wits. Especially he has matintained his innocence.

More so that it seems to circumstantially point to highly questionable techniques by the 3 MACC officers to push him to “want” to turn state witness against his boss. Perhaps one of such technique is to make him choose his life over his boss’ life by putting him dangling out the window. Perhaps an accident happened all of a sudden that he got out of the grip of whoever held on to him and TBH fell to his death.

Without firm evidence and declaring TBH had committed suicide is irresponsible indeed. The evidence is inconclusive for a suicide but actually favors a homicide. As Kit Siang had said, isn’t assisted suicide a homicide?

3. Shouldn’t those who psychologically manipulated TBH be culpable for murder?

Indeed, forcing a person to commit suicide is a homicide. If TBH was truly psychologically bashed up, it still doesn’t mean that he willingly ended his own life. All circumstantial evidences point to this being highly unlikely and if he so did it he must have been “helped”.

This is the most likely speculation.

4. That means MACC is practicing torturing techniques

Is this how MACC questions non-suspects? And that includes Ahmad Sarbaini too since he also died under strange ciscumstances at another MACC office.

Shouldn’t questioning be done in a recorded setting? Or will such recordings be tampered with like the MACC CCTV recordings when it mattered?

5. The RCI failed to conclusively answer TBH’s death nor absolve MACC from wrong doing

In developed countries, the chief of MACC would have resigned because such happening will permenantly taint an institution which relies on absolute credibility to perform its duties.

All we can say is that MACC will find it very difficult to get out of an inward spiral of internal destruction in the eyes of the public.

Why would anybody trust the MACC when people continuously hold it up with utter disdain now? It will take more than a miracle to vindicate the MACC and the people’s patience is wearing thin.

TBH, Strange Verdict and RCI

The recent “open verdict” returned by the Coroner of which Dr Rafick from Rights2Write blog has so aptly written his piece of analysis and I highly recommend as a very insightful reading (read here).  This is by far the best analysis available anywhere.

The Coroner clearly is convinced that it is not a suicide.  Then says it is also not a homicide.  Then how did Teoh Beng Hock die?  That’s a “funnycide”.

It’s like “Yes the family is right that TBH didn’t commit suicide.”

But it’s also “Yes MACC is not at fault.”

Which brings us to what really did the Coroner say? It’s “your guess is as good as mine”.

So why did we spend 18 months going round the Malaysian bush to come full circle to where we first started? All the time and money and effort to tell that we really don’t know?

Or is it really we all know how TBH died but none of us can talk about it?

Questions Unanswered – Remains Unanswered

The death of Teoh Beng Hock at MACC Shah Alam office remains a mystery before the inquest begins today and now adjourned to 5 August (the inquest was adjourned today).  So many questions, so few answers, and more questions arise each day.  Will we get any answers to the untimely death of Teoh or will this chapter be closed with little public accountability?

There are many blogs that have the public scrutinizing this very high profile public incident.  Lots of budding amateur CSIs analyzing from pictures taken at the crime scene (Rights2Write – read here).  Lim Kit Siang provided a precursor to the inquest on his interview today (read here).  Another curious article by Raja Petra (read here) strokes more questions to be answered (compare the two pictures in that article).

The following crime scene picture is graphic and may be offensive to some viewers.  Viewer discretion is adviced.  Continue only if you know what you are doing.