If there is a silver lining in the controversial and outrageous death of Teoh Beng Hock, its that the response from the people, Government and Opposition has been suitably strong. No one is letting this death slide; this in itself begs a strong question: if everyone is pursuing the solution to the mystery so vigorously, does this mean that no one is responsible?
Its particularly nasty that Teoh died just hours after being questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. Unlike Tengku Razaleigh, i think we need to be very careful to distinguish the difference between Teoh dying while in MACC custody and dying immediately after being released from the MACC.
Even if we acknowledge the difference between the two, its still a pretty damning stain on the MACC that (a) Teoh died just hours after questioning and (b) he died after jumping (thrown off?) from the same floor in the same building where the MACC is headquartered. More than anything else, this is the catalyst of the furor - a young witness dying literally meters away from where he was questioned by a Government agency for more than 11 hours.
The fallout of this ugly incident is going to change things, at the very least how things are done. Assuming the MACC is innocent (and lets assume strongly that they are for the time being), it will never allow itself to be put in this position again. Expect future interrogations to be recorded, no more 24 hour questioning periods, a more procedural system of checking-in-and checking-out witnesses and evidence, etc. Its probably safe to say, that the MACC, once the dust settles, is finished in its current form. It will likely be remembered in the future as Malaysia own nasty little chapter of McCarthyism.
Any death is to be regretted. The nation, still stabilizing after a period of unprecedented change since the elections of 2008, will be rocked to its core with this one.
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