On Thursday, DAP leaders bowed in “respect and sorrow” to the family of Teoh Beng Hock, acknowledging that they had been let down by the investigation into the former political aide’s death.
DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook, vice-chairman Teo Nie Ching, Selangor DAP chief Ng Sze Han, and Teoh’s former boss, Ean Yong Hian Wah, bowed for about a minute at the end of a press conference at DAP headquarters.
That DAP leaders displayed shame for their inability to obtain justice for Teoh Beng Hock—after 16 long years have passed, and despite now being the biggest party in the ruling government—is the least they could do given the state of things today.
Teoh Beng Hock was a DAP member when DAP was the underdog, not the victor. He worked for DAP. He died in the line of duty for DAP. The only reason he was questioned by the MACC before being found dead was to assist in a case involving DAP politicians—not because he had done anything wrong.
After his death, DAP used the public outrage to rally support. Again and again, its leaders said that justice for Teoh Beng Hock was denied because they were not in power.
Well, they are in power today. And yet justice for Teoh Beng Hock remains elusive.
That justice is still denied today is a shame DAP must now carry—and carry visibly. That they have finally bowed in sorrow and respect is, quite literally, the least they could do.
Now, they must prove that their shame is real—not a carefully staged publicity stunt.
If it’s real, they must start by admitting a hard truth: they are not as good as they thought they were.
They once believed that having power would be enough to secure justice for Teoh Beng Hock. Now, they must face the possibility that either the task is far harder than they imagined—or they are not as capable as they had assumed.
If the problem lies in the system, and justice is harder to achieve than they expected, they must explain why. If the problem lies in themselves, they must explain how they are going to grow into the role they have claimed.
And until they do, they must carry themselves with a kind of public humility that reflects their failure. Not just in gestures, but in conduct.
If they accept that they have failed to keep their promises, then they should not behave as if they have earned the right to govern.
Instead, they should lead with the understanding that they are in power not because they deserve it—but because, right now, there is no better alternative. That is a bitter pill to swallow, but it’s the only honest way forward.
TheRealNehruism (nehru.sathiamoorthy@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.
