INTERVIEW The people at large are starting to forget about the custodial death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock, who died five years ago after being taken to the Selangor headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency in Shah Alam, a member of the Teoh family said today.

Members of the public no longer actively attend the memorial activities held for Beng Hock, follow the family’s legal battle pertaining to his death and other activities related to him, if compared with events in the earlier years, said his younger sister, Teoh Lee Lan.

"Our society's amnesia will be an obstacle to the family's quest for the truth in my brother's death. It shows the people are rather lenient with the government, and this will cause more such tragedies in the future," Lee Lan said in expressing her regret.

"This is exactly what the government wants the people to be. The government is delaying justice for the family, so that the people will no longer remember and pressure it for an answer," she said.

"My brother's death was supposed to be the last in custodial deaths, but it was followed by more cases," Lee Lan said, adding that the people have their forgetfulness and forgiveness to blame for indirectly condoning such tragedies.

‘Country still owes us the truth’

"The country and society still owes us the truth. We want the truth, we want those responsible for Beng Hock's death to be punished accordingly," she told Malaysiakini.

The former political secretary to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah was summoned as "a witness" to assist in the investigation of constituency allocations on July 15, 2009.

Beng Hock was found dead the next morning, on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, where the Selangor MACC headquarters is located.

The family still grieves over his death. Even though five years have passed, tears ran down Lee Lan’s cheeks as she spoke about her brother who died at the location  just 15 minutes’ drive away from her office, where she works as an auditor.

She only learnt about Beng Hock’s death that evening.

"There were voices calling on members of the public to leave us alone, so that we could let go and move on," she said, adding that some netizens even chided the political leaders who pursued the issue of Beng Hock’s death.

“We want the people to talk, to remember’

The family does not want to be left alone on this issue, Lee Lan said, adding that they want the people to talk about Beng Hock’s death, to remember the matter and to apply pressure for justice.

"We do not mind if anybody keeps talking about Beng Hock. This will show that the people still remember, and we are glad about it," she said.

Even with talk on Beng Hock’s death continuing to hurt the family, she said, it was just a small matter that the family could cope with, unlike the amnesia of society about it. And, being a silent witness is rather like being an accomplice to a crime.

Malaysiakini revisits this issue today, on the fifth anniversary of Beng Hock’s death, and interviewed both Lee Lan and her mother, Teng Shuw Hoi, during which both of them insisted that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak failed to keep his promise to get at the truth of the matter.

"Have you done your best? Is this all what you can deliver?" cried Lee Lan, referring to both the coroner’s inquest and the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into Beng Hock’s death, which respectively ruled “open verdict” and “suicide”.

RCI revealed ‘inappropriate actions’

The family, however, maintains that there has been an element of crime in Beng Hock’s sudden death.

The RCI revealed a lot of evidence on the inappropriate actions of the MACC officers involved in questioning Beng Hock, so how could they rule out the criminal elements and say that he committed suicide, Lee Lan asked.

"The RCI has gone this far, so why not take another step forward? I'll say that the RCI was just a drama, played to please members of the public and the family. What was promised by the prime minister was not worth a thing!" she said.

The mother Shuw Hoi ( on the left ) said: "I want to tell Najib that those responsible for my son’s death should be in court.

"A debt in blood must be paid in blood. It will never be justice without this and I will not be sated. My son died mysteriously.

"Beng Hock was a sweet child. He willingly did the household chores. He called on a daily basis to check on the family and chat about this and that. The family was preparing his for wedding and he was happy.”

The mother said she cried every day for a long time after beng Hock’s death. She made it a habit to watch the Mandarin news slot to see if there was any positive development in TBH's case - and always ended up disappointed.

The family is challenging the open verdict of the coroner’s inquest into Beng Hock’s death in the Court of Appeal. They are seeking that the court overturns the decision and rules that there had been an element of crime, if possible, so that the police can re-open the investigation.

There is still long way to go, Lee Lan said, and even if the court rules in their favour, it would be a restart of the matter all over again, with a fresh investigation into Beng Hock’s death being possible, followed by years of prosecution.

"The family will never give up, no matter how long it takes. Even if only few people remember Beng Hock today, we will never give up on the matter," Lee Lan said.

"I have told my parents to stay healthy and live as long as is possible, so that we can see justice prevail," she added.

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