Malaysians of the Year 2009 - Teoh Beng Hock

AND the Malaysian Mirror's choice for "Malaysian of the Year 2009" is Teoh Beng Hock

MM’s inaugural end-of-year Special looks back at the people who have truly made a big impact in the public sphere. One name stands out. Teoh Beng Hock.

A young man who rose from obscurity to national prominence with his untimely demise on July 16, 2009.




His inquest riveted the nation following his fall from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s office in Shah Alam, a day after he was brought in for questioning over the misappropriation of Selangor state allocations.

His death posed many unanswered questions and made the MACC the most talked-about government institution of 2009.

Teoh might have been just another faceless aide toiling away while seasoned politicians basked in the glory of fame and recognition.

In Teoh, perhaps, we see the underdog in many of us; full of fervent hopes to change a status quo steeped in public distrust.

At 30, the future for Teoh looked bright with a promising job that could have conceivably taken him to greater political heights, and maybe, somehow, changed things for the better.

A man who was about to get married and on his way to starting a family.

A son of a taxi driver who made good in the eyes of those who knew him.

You may not have known Teoh on a personal level but in his death and the circumstances surrounding it, we are all shaken by the rippling aftershocks that have been wrought.

Teoh was the everyman with whom Malaysians, irrespective of race or faith, could identify with.

Through him, we see a less rose-tinted view of a system with its imperfections, and the chance to right a wrong by continuing to ask the hard questions.

He precipitated a chain of events that led to a shakeup.

Among the damning testimony that added more fuel to a growing controversy was that of Thai pathologist Pornthip Rojanasunand who said marks on Teoh’s body suggested that he had been tortured and strangled.

Her testimony had been sought by the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government, where Teoh was an aide to state executive councillor Ean Yong.

The MACC has since called on a British pathologist to observe the second post-mortem on Teoh's body.

At the time of his death, his fiancée, 28-year-old schoolteacher Soh Che Wer, was two months’ pregnant. She told the press she intended to keep the child and to name Teoh as the baby's father.

Thus, she went through a traditional Chinese marriage ceremony and, with the completion of the rites, the family gave their blessings for Soh to have her name engraved as Teoh’s wife on his gravestone.

In the meantime, one of his colleagues claimed to be unduly pressured by MACC officers during interrogation. Tan Boon Wah later filed a suit against the commission for false imprisonment.

In the case, the High Court ruled that because Tan was interrogated after normal working hours, he had been subject to false imprisonment and ordered the MACC to pay him damages.

Tan's lawyer Karpal Singh, said Teoh's family could also sue the MACC for damages, citing this ruling.

DAP advisor and Ipoh Timor MP Lim Kit Siang surmised that if the MACC had “followed the law and interrogated him during the day”, Teoh would not have died.

We, in the Malaysian Mirror, do not make any judgment on his demise but we certainly acknowledge that this ordinary man – in death – had made such an impact on the social and political fabric of the nation.

Teoh Beng Huat is deservingly our “Malaysian of the Year.”

STORY OF THE YEAR - TEOH BENG HOCK INQUEST

Last Updated on Thursday, 24 December 2009 00:47