A solemn, sad atmosphere descended on Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam this morning as family members of Teoh Beng Hock, Selangor state exco members, politicians and the public gathered to commemorate the first anniversary of the political aide's mysterious death.

NONE About 50 people were present, led by Teoh's former employer and state exco Ean Yong Hian Wah, along with his counterparts Hasan Ali, Ronnie Liu, Dr Xavier Jeyakumar, Dr Halimah Ali, Teresa Kok and Elizabeth Wong.

Others present included Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching, Seputeh MP, Teresa Kok and Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo, as well as Sekinchan assemblyperson Ng Swee Lin and Teratai assemblyperson Janice Lee.

Earlier, the gathering held a mini rally at the plaza lobby as leaders took turn to address the floor. Most brought flowers with them, and many tried to get to the fifth floor, where the 30-year-old Teoh was found dead after a night of questioning at the Selangor office of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission there.

However, the building management only allowed Teoh's family members, Ean Yong, Hasan, Wong and Teo to enter the fifth floor balcony to perform prayers.

NONE Teoh's younger sister Lee Lan ( centre in blue ) said the family would try to meet Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak again if they were not satisfied with the outcome of the inquest.

"Najib said the inquest will take two weeks, the most two months, but it has been one year now.

"He said we can meet him again if we are not satisfied. We asked him for a letter of guarantee, but he has ignored us. If the inquest gives us an unacceptable result, we will definitely go to see him."

Lee Lan said family members had agreed to the inquest, instead of a royal commission, "because Najib had said that according to the constitution, we must have inquest first".

She said MACC's chief Abu Kassim Mohamed's statement yesterday, in which he said the commission felt the family's pain, was pure hypocrisy.

NONE "He has been MACC chief for six months. His lawyer had several times tried to stop Thai pathologist Dr Porntip Rojanasunand from testifying through video conferencing.

"If he wants the truth, he should allow Dr Porntip to testify through video conferencing. He was conflicting himself in his statement yesterday. If he is sincere, he will not repeatedly do things that go against what he has said."

Lee Lan reiterated that the family members "will not be cheated by the MACC chief".

Gobind: MACC's statement one year late

Renowned Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand, engaged by the Selangor state government to conduct second post-mortem on Teoh, had earlier refused to testify in the inquest citing “political pressure” from the Malaysian government.

NONE Following this, Teoh’s family applied to the coroner’s inquest to allow her to testify via video conferencing and this was vehemently objected by MACC’s lawyers.

This dispute was rendered academic after Pornthip changed her mind after the Thai Justice Ministry requested her to testify following discussions with the Selangor state government.

She is scheduled to appear at the inquest on Aug 18.

Gobind, who represented the family in the inquest, lambasted Abu Kassim for issuing a  statement one year too late.

"I want to ask them one question, why wait for one year only say this? Why was the family made to pursue justice through the court and why only now we see the acknowledgment by MACC?”

He then led the crowd to chant "Justice for Teoh Beng Hock!" and " Reformasi! " before ending his speech.

Lee Lan: We will not let up

While addressing the crowd, Lee Lan broke into tears and had to stop her speech several times.

NONE She pledge to his deceased brother that they will pursue the truth until it the end and called on public to support their cause.

"Your presence today is very important to (our family). You don't have to do anything, just continue to support us and follow the news until the day the truth prevail, we will come back here again.”

She then appealed: "Will you be together with us and seek justice for Beng Hock?" This was met by impassioned replies of: “Yes we will”.

Although asked by police to dispersed, the crowd stayed on until 11am before a simple flower offering ceremony was performed at the lobby to mark the end of the event.

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