I refer to the Malaysiakini report Pornthip says she's willing to testify .

The public want to know. And that is the purpose of an inquest. If crucial evidence is omitted, it makes a mockery of the inquest. Malaysians know about trumped-up charges and kangaroo courts and the last thing they need is a whitewashed inquest.

It is a moral challenge for the government to ensure that no stone is left unturned to get to the bottom of Teoh Beng Hock’s untimely and tragic death. If the official version is he killed himself then let’s have the convincing evidence. Forensic science can answer the questions and fill in the blanks. Because of the public interest in Teoh's death, it is important that the truth be known and the truth can only be known when all the crucial and material evidence is properly examined.

It is a serious travesty of justice and an act of utter unconscionable cruelty to say Teoh killed himself when there is contradictory evidence that his death was not suicide and that he was a victim of foul play. Pornthip's expert evidence will clarify certain crucial points vital to the final verdict.

I would have thought the government would be grateful that someone of Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand’s reputation had got involved. But instead we were first told she won’t be giving her evidence as an expert witness because she has been threatened or blackmailed. The net result is she was deterred from giving her evidence in person.

The reputation of the MACC remains under a cloud over Teoh's death. It is morally reprehensible for the truth to be covered up. It is equally reprehensible for politics to intrude into the domain of the coroner’s office.

The politician who called Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand ‘a liar’ was not only rude, defamatory and un-Islamic but showed utter contempt for the inquest. Such a response merely convinces people that some people don't want the truth to be known.

Intimidating a witness is a serious culpable offence. The rule of law died in 1988 even before the then lord president saw his own demise at the hands of the politicians. It seems a subsequent apology and substantial financial compensation at taxpayers’ expense have not taught the politicians their lesson.

Thailand’s political crisis will be resolved. But I am not sure the moral crisis in Malaysia can be resolved as long as there is political interference in the way the public institutions carry on their work.

Until the government shows moral resolution and acts with transparency by allowing all those who can help the inquest establish what really happened to Teoh Beng Hock not only the credibility of the inquest but the government itself will be at stake.

This report of threats against Pornthip does nothing to restore the public’s confidence that the government cares about its credibility or the truth and especially justice for a victim of a system that went horribly wrong on the night Teoh died. It is one more reason for change.