You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2009.
…cannot make the court do the right thing in a country where political will dictates, well, everything.
SHAH ALAM: Renowned Thai forensic pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand told the inquest into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock that it was an 80% probability his death was a homicide.
(Dr Pornthip had been provided postmortem reports prepared by Dr Khairul Aznam Ibrahim from the Klang Tengku Rahimah Ampuan and Universiti Malaya Medical Centre’s Dr Prashant Samberkar as well as pictures of Teoh’s injuries.)
Referring to an anal tear Teoh suffered as a “penetrative injury”, Dr Pornthip said she had never seen this type of injury in cases of a fall.If the injury had indeed been caused by a bone protrusion, she said it would have come from the inside of Teoh’s anus. She said the abrasions on Teoh’s right upper thigh looked like he had been beaten with a piece of wood.
She added that there was a need to cut open the skin to check for internal bleeding to determine whether Teoh had been tortured.(Both the pathologists who had conducted the postmortem on Teoh had not done so.)
Dr Pornthip also said Teoh’s skull fracture was not typical of a transferred injury due to a fall but was more compatible with a blunt force being directly inflicted to the head.
She said the transferred injury to the skull due to the impact of the fall would typically cause a ring fracture at the base of the skull around the spinal column and not a cervical spine fracture as suffered by Teoh.
Dr Pornthip said Teoh, 30, was probably alive when he hit the ground but might have been unconscious before the fall. She said this was because there was no reaction wounds on his ankles and wrists to show he had instinctively tried to stop himself from hitting the ground.
She said it was possible he was unconscious from manual strangulation or pain from the anal region. She estimated his time of death to have occurred between 6am and 8am on July 16. -The Star Read the rest here.
Now the zeal will be to dispute the credentials and evidence of Dr Porntip Rojanasunand. Not that they can find holes in the credentials of this famed Dr Death. Here’s an interesting chronicle of her exploits in the face of adversity.
Dr Rafick in his blog posed some interesting questions post-Porntip pronounciations. Read it here. Now let’s remember firstly why this inquest took place.
In my opinion, there are way too many questions waiting to be answered that the Najib administration will have no choice but to give up the culprits. Some folks gotta pay for what happened to Teoh Beng Hock. Or it will become another ghostly millstone a la Altantuya Shariibuu and another custodial death superstar A.Kugan, around Najib’s neck.
People would probably close one eye to corruption, especially when it is so endemic in our civil service, corporations and politics, saying same bullshit, different day.
But this suspicious death is very close to looking like torture and subsequent murder. This shocks even the most jaded of us. Not that the government is new to the practice of murdering its own citizens. I mean I’m sure Musa Hitam could regale us with some tales on that score.
MACC is already a suspect organisation. This could be the best excuse to purge it off its borderline criminal elements, but then it has been a useful tool of governmental persecution, hasn’t it? But it has become too good at its job eh?
So yeah, I hope Mr 1Malaysia will also see some sense in 1Justice and 1Justice seen to be done.
My inner self sniggers at my naive hope, but hey, let’s keep the pressure on. I don’t care if Teoh wasn’t an angel. He doesn’t deserve to be murdered.
…is among others, Utusan Malaysia’s Firdaus Abdullah.
The issue at contention here is the government’s decision to do away with the “race” column in some government issued forms way back in August. The Star was a bit more cautious with with the story, going on to get it from the DPM’s mouth.
Here’s Muhyiddin’s rationale.
“There is a need for us to look at Malaysians not from the perspective of race,” he said.- The Star.
Of course there are exceptions to this policy. The race thingie will continue to be a category in cases where the special bumiputera privileges are concerned. This too was categorically stated in the Malaysian Insider report.
The public reaction, as far I as I could see, ranged from “Yay! At Last” to “Ye ke ni?” to “cannot be lah. Too good to be true.” I for one was pleasantly surprised to see a policy that might start to address the communal divide in this country.
Maybe it is too early in the day for cynical old me to buy into this 1Malaysia baloney. So far what I’ve seen are just phoney regurgitations. Maybe the PM has some desire to do the right thing, who knows.
It is rare for the government to come up with a policy that will have such wide positive repercussions, that we sit up and take notice. Lots of people have been for this move, including Mukhriz Mahathir.
Then comes Mr Firdaus Abdullah with this article. Here are the first three paragraphs.
Wajarkah ruang pengenalan “kaum” dalam borang-borang dan dokumen rasmi kerajaan digugurkan? Apakah implikasinya kepada bangsa Melayu?
Bagaimanakah hendak memantau perubahan nasib (kemajuan?) orang Melayu dengan ketiadaan pengenalan kaum itu?
Bagaimanakah langkah-langkah affirmative hendak dirancang dan dilaksanakan untuk membantu orang Melayu yang serba-serbi masih ketinggalan itu jika tidak ada data yang lengkap?
My answer: There is already exception made to forms dealing with these bumiputra privileges. Firdaus either didn’t read that part when researching for his opinion, or he chose to ignore it. Hard data can still be compiled by statisticians even without a clearly stated “Melayu” in those forms.
Adakah pengguguran yang dicadangkan itu benar-benar boleh menyumbang terhadap matlamat gagasan Satu Malaysia? Atau adakah itu, tanpa disedari, hanya akan “mencairkan” jati diri Melayu untuk menjadi lebih “Malaysian” sementara jati diri pihak-pihak lain semakin kental dan menebal dengan sikap perkaumannya yang semakin eksklusif?
Now this is very naughty. I suggest Firdaus goes and reads the 8 values of 1 Malaysia. Those aims are noble, at least on paper. For Firdaus to infer that for my Malay friends will lose their esssential Malay-ness if they were to see themselves as Malaysians, is such a pathetic assertion it ain’t funny.
Now the next part about “pihak pihak lain” will strengthen their racial integrity with greater consequent racist and exclusive behaviour, is a malicious generalisation. Furthermore it won’t be true. Not in this day and age.
Everyone’s culture will get diluted somewhat, especially in a melting pot. What you will get in return, is assimilation of some ways and customs. It is only natural when people of different cultures live together. Now wouldn’t it be a beautiful thing to embrace our diversity? How else do you explain the many pretty Chinese girls I saw at an event last Sunday, looking demure and sweet in their baju kebaya, or the halal Pau stall that’s doing thriving business here. Neither party were coerced to adapt, I’m sure.
“Bagi data yang beribu dan berjuta banyaknya, bagaimanakah ia hendak diproses untuk mengetahui profil atau taburan mengikut kaum dan agama? Tanpa maklumat seperti ini, bagaimanakah hendak menggubal dasar dan program yang berbentuk affirmative action seperti membasmi kemiskinan dan membetulkan ketidakseimbangan ekonomi mengikut kaum, selaras dengan konsep 1Malaysia?
The above quotes Senator Akbar Ali. I think he knows better that where bumiputera equity in the economic pie is concerned, other policies are already in place that clearly states the race status of relevant groups or individuals. As regards poverty eradication, isn’t poverty an issue that transcends race and religion?
Affirmative action was meant to correct an imbalance in distribution of wealth and progress among the various communities. There are a lot of people who are still below poverty line, some living in painfully squalid conditions. They are not just Malays, but also Indians, Chinese, Dayaks, Penans, Ibans, Temuans…in short, Malaysians.
I Malaysia should be about restoring dignity to all Malaysians, and ensuring they get their basic rights as citizens. Properly implemented, it will not compromise Malay rights or bumiputera privileges. As it happens, greed and insecurity has a lot to do with the inequality we see today.
Firdaus chose to look at the negative implications of this very simple proposal, taking his cue from Senator Akbar Ali. But Akbar as a member of the Upper House surely could have had access to the relevant information regarding the abolition of race in government forms. That he chose to raise questions first, points towards the kindling of a pressure group, to pre-empt what he calls “ura ura” but has already come out of the DPM’s own mouth.
Of course, fresh in the wake of the triumphant win in Bagan Pinang, Umno folks can afford to be just a little more cocky in their strut, but then, tomorrow some other dude might die and another by-election might be coming. Utusan’s relentless fear-mongering might just trigger a blacklash then.
It may be a smart thing to think together as Malaysians, to ensure our future survival as a nation in a changing world order. But what can I say, if the opinion shapers choose to peddle fear and stop the citizenry from thinking beyond the “Aku Melayu” premise. What happened to Najib’s “Glokal” Malaysians?
Tu lah, korang ni, dah lah mudah lupa, cepat pulak melatah.
Us Malaysians are generally a generous lot. Especially when it comes to helping those affected by disaster, war or any other hardship. From individuals to corporates to the government, we do not stint in aid, especially to neighbours.
From Darfur, to Kosovo, to China to Aceh to Sri Lanka, Palestine and God knows where else, we have stepped up to help.
Even at the height of the Indon-media-whipped resentment against Malaysia in the past few months, Malaysian students helped out with relief efforts during the West Jawa quake (early September).
This time around it is Sumatra that is hit, and it is only decent to help one another in the times of humanitarian crisis. That is what Malaysia is doing, in droves.
So why throw stones at us, people of Padang? Isn’t that energy better spent helping the thousands of people who are still trapped beneath the rubble? Why do you bite the very hand that’s coming to help you when your own govt can’t cope with relief efforts?
Our own official response to the stone-throwing has been rather mild, if you read into what the DPM says here. In the meantime, we have the Mercy folks there,with Air Asia flying them in. The Armed Forces medicos are there too.
Here’s what the PM said. Three types of assistance. Hear that? Search and rescue, medical and humanitarian aid.
In times of critical emergencies like these, you drop whatever hostilities you may have with each other and just help, beacuse there are people’s lives at stake. I think it is big of us to ignore the hostile reaction of a small group of Padang denizens. I think it should not stop us from helping the thousands displaced and victimised by the earthquake.
But do not insult us. We can be patient only for so long.
Ah! The seat got too hot for Paul Low, President of Transparency International Malaysia. Some rumblings were expected over at this body, especially judging by yesterday’s New Sunday Times report that implied the EGM today would expect outbursts from many of the exco members.
Six of TI Malaysia’s excos threatened to resign apparently. However, today’s shocker is that it was Paul Low himself who had to leave. Read it here.
Quite cryptic, don’t you think? In the absence of some substantive details, I’ll speculate a little.
Paul Low was Ramon Navaratnam’s rather nondescript successor who came from the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. His term at TI Malaysia was to all intents and purposes to remain a quiet one. I mean who can outtalk little old Ramon Navaratnam, right?
But Low’s troubles began when he was named chairman of the Port Klang Authority (PKA) ad hoc corporate governance committee that was to investigate the taxpayers’ disaster that was PKFZ.
Mr Opposition, Lim Kit Siang questioned his credibility and rightly so. PKFZ was a scandal that had too many political hidden hands in it, and some of them came from MCA. Paul Low himself is a life member of MCA and that makes even his holding of TI presidency an iffy one.
His troubles only grew worse with the Malaysian chapter of the Global Corruption Report 2009 that he unveiled last week. The document is available for download here. Paul Low also gave an interview on the matter to The Star.
Not to mention the ferocity with which Bintulu Tiong responded to Low’s statement that in a gist, said PKFZ has Umno politicians’ dirty fingers in it. Guilty people are usually jumpy, but why is Tiong jumping when Low pointed his finger at Umno? Tiong must be an Umno member then…heheh.
This resignation looks like a coup has taken place at TI Malaysia and this dude has been driven out by an irate exco who took exception to the interpretations of the GCR in the case of Malaysia.
Mr Low is discovering that being at the helm of such an organisation as Transparency International requires more than patronage and an old boys’ club connection. It requires serious scrotal gumption and a background that stands the harsh glare of public and media scrutiny.
