On July 16, 2009, Teoh Beng Hock died at the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam. He had been interrogated for hours at the Selangor office of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). He never walked out alive.
In 2014, the Court of Appeal ruled that Teoh’s death was caused by “one or more persons unknown,” including MACC officers. In other words, even the courts have officially acknowledged that MACC officers were responsible.
And yet, 16 years later, not a single person has been held accountable.
Teoh’s family — especially his sister, bless her — has never given up fighting for justice. But the people responsible for ending Teoh Beng Hock’s life still walk free, basking in sunlight, after extinguishing his.
To rub salt in the wound, just days ago, the MACC offered Teoh's family a “goodwill contribution” as a “gesture of compassion.”
A gesture of compassion — as if he had died in a flood or from an illness, not as a result of being interrogated to death.
MACC chief Azam Baki said there was “insufficient evidence” to charge anyone, but assured the public that the agency “takes the incident very seriously.”
“This tragic incident has had a profound impact, not only on the deceased’s family, but also on all MACC personnel and the nation as a whole,” the MACC chief said, as if the tragedy was an act of God, and it was fate that has stained its hands with the blood of Teoh Beng Hock.
It’s as if some invisible hand pushed him out the window — not officers of an anti-corruption body, sworn to uphold justice.
On paper, Malaysia is a deeply religious country. Religion is even the first principle of the Rukun Negara: Belief in God.
But in practice, we worship something else: power and money.
We quote scriptures. We go to mosques, temples, and churches. But we do not behave as though we believe in an all-seeing God who will hold us accountable — in this life or the next.
If we did, wouldn’t we be willing to sacrifice power and money in the name of truth and justice?
Instead, we do the opposite. We sacrifice truth and justice to maintain our power and wealth. We lie, cheat, and sometimes kill — so long as we can get away with it. It is as if we are telling ourselves that money and power can buy truth, goodness and justice. As long as we do what it takes to accumulate power, riches and position, we can use some of our gains to build an old folks home or sponsor an orphanage, or talk about reforms and good governance and or proclaim that we want to uplift the working class, and whatever lies, debauchery and wickedness we applied in order to gain power, wealth and position, will be forgotten and forgiven.
And even if the lies, debaucheries, injustice and wickedness that we applied is not forgotten or forgiven, it doesn’t matter.
All we have to do is look sad, say sorry and be willing to pay, and everything will be A-ok.
In Malaysia, it really seems that power and money can make black into white, wrong into right, injustice into compassion.
The case of Teoh Beng Hock isn’t an anomaly. It’s just another chapter in a long, depressing book — where truth doesn’t matter, justice is negotiable, and power always wins.
If you’re rich or powerful, you can steal RM170 million, but if you are caught, all you hav to do is forfeit the amount, and you can walk away free. No jail. No shame.
If you are poor and powerless, on the other hand, even if you steal a tin of Milo, you could end up behind bars for heaven knows how long.
If you're rich, powerful or are in possession of a high position, even if by some twist of fate, you end up convicted of a crime, the conviction is not probably not even a real punishment. You can still fall in love, enjoy life, frolic in the media, and wait for the outrage against your misdeed to die out. Eventually, when the wrongs you have committed is buried under the wheels of time, your charges will disappear. You’ll be acquitted. Heck, you might even be celebrated.
And even if you are convicted and thrown into prison, it probably is just going to be a slap on th wrist. You might go to jail for a while, but then you’ll get house arrest, or a royal pardon, or a new government that wipes the slate clean.
There’s a quote often repeated: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Perhaps we should reflect on that the next time we look into the mirror and think that we are good people.
If we are good people, why are doing nothing when the later Teoh Beng Hock is obviously being denied truth and justice.
If we do nothing, aren’t we for the triumph of evil.
If we are for the triumph of evil, why do we even see ourselves as good?
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!
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