comment The nation is in severe pain as we follow news of the tragic death of Teoh Beng Hock, who reportedly fell from the building that houses the Selangor headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in Shah Alam.

We don’t know him, his family or his colleagues. But we have shed tears as we watched and read the horrible news. These tears were shed because we are ashamed of our government; a government that cannot even deliver its basic duty to deliverg safety and security to its citizens.

teo beng hock plaza masalam macc 170709 Teoh, barely 30, could have had a promising future, but his life has come to an abrupt stop. This young person must have had a sense of mission, for he did not choose the comfort of an easier career. Instead, he dedicated himself to the ‘thankless’ life of public service in Malaysia.

The job itself is challenging enough; daily we watched these young political secretaries go about their chores of supporting and assisting their elected representatives operating on a 7/11 schedule for very modest compensation.

Daily they have to navigate the hassle-filled terrain of the government bureaucracy, often having to put up with bullying and abuse by hostile parties. There is also the need for fire-fighting and to put up with endless eruptions of political emergencies.

Their tenacity and patience are tested, challenged and stretched every minute of the day. Through their work, they serve and strive all for a better Malaysia, for you and me.

In a ‘civilised society’ like ours, who would have thought that the job of serving the public would come with such a high price? Teoh’s parents expressed regret that they allowed their son to go into public service, a sentiment we can all appreciate because no one would want to expose our children to risk.

Evict bad governance

But what happened to Teoh is most unnecessary, unfair and unjust. There is no reason for this to have happened.

teoh beng hock plaza masalam macc sprm 170709 brother clutching fiancee 02 Now that the hopes of a pair of parents and a pregnant fiancee are shattered by Teoh’s mysterious death, do we not owe this family? Our system could not even give him basic protection.

Can we let him die in vain? He was sacrificed while working to move the nation’s democratic system forward. When no more talented young people want to enter public service, how can we sustain a fair political system for our economic, social and cultural lives to continue?

When parents prevent their children from participating in governance to ensure a fair system, how will you and I be protected from foul play and injustice?

When the system is allowed to rot, our well being will be sacrificed. Your property will have no value; your job will not pay well if you still have one; the streets will not be safe and schools will be in shambles.

All this is already happening. We need to evict bad governance - the authorities must stop terrorising the nation.

They had better have some good answers for his family, and especially for that baby to be born in a few months.

NONE Why are law-enforcement officials incapable of protecting a young person who was just called in for questioning to assist in an investigation?

What makes up the values of the government of the day? Is it capable of fair play and what does it make of the current state of governance? It appears that we have a government that is itself the source of problems.

Pahlawan Volunteers feels duty-bound to initiate a public campaign, so this is a call to you to make this a better Malaysia for all.

Dear Malaysians, you and I were ashamed that the nation was silent when a young Mongolian was blown to pieces. We fail to demonstrate to the international community that we could assure foreigners their safety while on our soil.

Today, we have failed to protect our own son - we failed to assure him safety in government-operated premises!

Let’s vow to demand a safe system, now that Teoh has paid for this with his life.

FOONG WAIFONG and PAT LU are founders of Pahlawan Volunteers.