THE TEOH BENG HOCK UNTOLD

STORY BY TRICIA YEOH

Teoh Beng Hock's mother, Teng Hui How, holding a picture of her son outside
the courthouse in Shah Alam on January 5, 2010. EPA pic, July 16, 2017.

The untold story of the Teoh Beng

Hock case, Part 1
Tricia YeohUpdated 4 days ago Published on 16 Jul 2017 7:00AM 1
comments
themalaysianinsight.com |

WHAT would you say to Beng Hock if he was alive today?

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Up till this question, Soh Cher Wei, the wife of Teoh Beng Hock, had maintained
a chatty and unflappable demeanour. But now there was a pause. A very long
pause.

Her eyes averted my gaze. Her expression, seemingly placid moments ago,
turned sombre. She tried to smile, but her face quickly sagged. She appeared to
be trying so hard to hold it together, not to break the veil of composure.

If he was still alive, I think wed be a simple family, she finally replied, her voice
choked with emotion. I dont know how to answer. I dont know what Id say to
him I dont know. She wiped her eyes. Can we skip to the next question.

Crickets hummed in the soporific suburbia of Batu Pahat whilst her three-year old
son Teoh Er Jia cycled around us in circles, oblivious to our conversation.

This was the only public account that Soh ever gave when asked about her late
husband Teoh Beng Hock. I interviewed her as part of The Rights of The Dead,
a documentary I directed under the Freedom Film Festival 2012, and produced
by Pusat Komas. It was an opportunity to tell the story of my ex-colleague from
the Selangor state government.

I was the Research Officer for the then Menteri Besar of Selangor, Tan Sri Khalid
Ibrahim, when I learned the news about Beng Hocks death on Thursday, 16 July
2009. I was in a daze. My colleagues, press secretary Arfa and communications
officer Ginie were in tears at the Menteri Besars office. We had just seen Beng
Hock the day before at the Selangor state assembly hall.

We were all aides. Beng Hocks interrogation and consequent death could have
happened to any one of us. An impromptu candlelight vigil took place at Plaza
Masalam in Shah Alam that evening, where the MACC was then located.

The next morning on 17 July 2009, about 500 people showed up to protest at
Plaza Masalam; several people were arrested by riot police. The general
consensus was that the MACC was responsible, given that Beng Hock was last
known to be at their office his car keys and handphone taken away from him.

The police had also blocked off the building entrance, allowing only Arfa and
myself to enter the building and go to the MACC office. Upstairs, it was equally
chaotic. There were unidentified men standing around the hallway, and we could
not access any of the officers to speak with to find out more. The MACC doors
were locked and nobody was allowed in or out. Frustrated, we went back
downstairs to join the crowd.

By this time, I had a growing sense of unease. There were serious questions that
needed answers to clear the shroud forming around the way that Beng Hock
died.

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As the suspicions grew, I felt it was imperative for Beng Hocks body to have an
autopsy conducted by an independent forensic pathologist. (The first autopsy
would be conducted that same day by police appointees, which is the standard
procedure). I had to speak with the Teoh family directly on this matter.

But I couldnt speak Chinese. So I reached out to Kerk Kim Hock who was acting
as the intermediary between the family and external parties. Kerk was former
DAP Secretary-General and former MP of Kota Melaka who also happened to be
a relative of theirs.

Kerk told me that he would try to convince the family of the need for an
independent autopsy. It was already late morning on Friday 17 July and the body
was going to be passed to the family for burial at 5pm the same day. I did not
have much time.

I then set off on a frantic hunt for any forensic pathologist who would be willing to
do a second autopsy on behalf of the state government. I contacted two local
doctors, but although they were personally willing, they said I would need to
obtain the approval of their heads of department and Vice-Chancellors first. And
since they were both attached to public universities, chances were very slim.
Time didnt permit me to chase after slim chances.

In desperation, I thought perhaps someone from a different country would have a

freer hand. I contacted a forensic pathologist from Singapore who declined,
worried about negative implications on the relationship between the two
countries.

A relative of mine then mentioned that he had watched a National Geographic

documentary on a flamboyant Thai pathologist with funny hair, but whose name
he could not recall. I Googled that exact phrase, and there it was: images of Dr
Porntip Rojanasunan with streaks of blonde and red in a punk-rock hairstyle. She
became famous after identifying bodies during the 2004 tsunami, and has given
controversial conclusions in the past, earning her the nickname of Dr Death. She
was also once listed as the most trusted person in Thailand.

Within minutes, through a contact at the Thai Foreign Ministry, I called Dr

Porntip, Director-General of the Central Institute of Forensic Science at the
Ministry of Justice. I breathlessly explained everything to her. She said yes. She
agreed to fly to Malaysia to assist us without any fee necessary (Selangor state
covered her flight and lodging). The phone conversation took all of two minutes.

I whooped for joy! Here was someone with the peerless reputation to provide the
independent expert view for the second autopsy, and the courage to take on this
job out of nowhere.

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Things escalated quickly after that. The secretary at the MBs office signed an
official letter inviting Dr. Porntip as representative of the Thai Ministry of Justice
to conduct a second autopsy on behalf of the state of Selangor. She would arrive
the very next day on 18 July and go directly from KLIA to the mortuary.

But this would not come to pass. At about 7pm, I received a phone call from
Kerk. He informed me that it was a no-go. The family did not agree to a second
autopsy and Beng Hocks body would be buried immediately. I was in complete
shock. I told him this was a very bad idea. He was truly apologetic but could not
change the familys mind.

I was apoplectic. I understood that this was already a very traumatic time for the
family. I understood that Chinese custom dictated the need to show respect to
the dead, and let him rest in peace.

But the extremely dubious circumstances of his death demanded that the most
grievous suspicions be put to rest. An independent autopsy would do that. And
Beng Hock deserved that. I was determined not to let this go.

I called up everyone I thought could help convince the parents: Tan Sri Khalid,
Ean Yong, Gobind Singh (the familys appointed lawyer) and finally, Lim Guan
Eng, the head honcho of DAP himself. They emphathised with me, but
respecting the wishes of the parents was paramount for them.

I had to accept that.

Upset, I dejectedly left the office drained of all energy. As if on cue, it started to
rain heavily. I remember crying all the way whilst driving home. It was an
accident waiting to happen. And so it did. Someone from the media called, I
looked down at my phone lost in thought and bam I caused a three-car line-up,
a horrid end to the most horrid of days. July 16, 2017.

* Tricia Yeoh was Research Officer to the Selangor Menteri Besar from January
2009 to March 2011 and represented the Selangor state government in
managing the Teoh Beng Hock case.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily
represent the views of The Malaysian Insight.

2017 The Malaysian Insight. All Rights Reserved.

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The untold story of the Teoh Beng
Hock case, Part 2
Tricia YeohUpdated 3 days ago Published on 17 Jul 2017 7:00AM 0
comments
themalaysianinsight.com |

THE air was thick with the smell of incense, grey smoke rising against the green,
hilly backdrop of the Nirvana Memorial Park in Semenyih. It was a particularly
hot, sticky and sweltering Monday afternoon on July 20, 2009 when Beng Hocks
body was laid to rest, more than 2000 bodies crammed into a large hall as the
family prepared its religious rites to say goodbye. Political bigwigs made their
presence felt at the funeral, including Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim, and
the MB, whom I was accompanying.

Beng Hock was political secretary to the Selangor executive council (exco)
member YB Ean Yong from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), so technically
we were colleagues in the same state administration. I would see him regularly at
the weekly exco press conferences a tall, fair and lanky fellow with a serious
look on his face and documents in his hands.

It was an exciting time for young ones enthusiastic about national reform. The
political tsunami of 2008 had taken place just the year before, and suddenly there
were numerous job vacancies ideal for politically conscious Malaysians in their
twenties.

Selangor was a natural target for Barisan Nasional who had never before lost its
prized state. The MACC investigated seven Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen in
relation to their use of development funds in their respective constituencies, Ean
Yong being one of them. The accusation was that he had paid RM2,400 for
1,500 Malaysian flags used in the Merdeka Day celebrations in 2008, without
actually receiving them from the suppliers. Bear in mind that Beng Hock was only
the witness and not the suspect when he died in custody.

After the funeral, the real work began of investigating the case. The federal
government agreed to conduct an inquest into his death, and announced that a
Royal Commission of Inquiry into the interrogation and probing methods used
would also be set up.

The first autopsy was conducted by Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim and Dr Prashant
Naresh Samberkar, which concluded that the injuries on the body were
consistent with those that occur due to fall from height. Because of the context
and nature of Beng Hocks death, this seemed altogether too simple an

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explanation and we needed more answers. The report was general and vague,
with no elaboration on the wounds found on his body.

The Selangor government appointed Malik Imtiaz Sarwar as its lawyer to

represent the states interests. In my discussions with him, we decided we should
take advantage of Dr Porntips previous willingness to help. The inquest began
on July 29 at the Shah Alam High Court, and I wrote once again to Dr Porntip to
seek her expert opinion and advice based on the evidence we were beginning to
gather, which she agreed to provide.

Thus began a flurry of email exchanges between Dr Porntip and myself, her
trying to make sense of the case as best as possible from a distance. For the first
time in my life I saw photographs taken by the criminal investigation unit of a
dead body graphic, gruesome and bloodied. I was forced to study the basics of
forensic pathology and human anatomy, in order to summarise DNA, autopsy
and toxicology reports.

The team and I by this time, the legal team had expanded to include criminal
lawyers Sreekant Pillai and Ashok Kandiah wanted to get Dr Porntip to be
present during Dr Khairul and Dr Prashants testimony at the inquest, so the right
questions could be asked. Her preliminary view as sent to us over email was that
there was an area of haemorrhage under the chin that was not compatible with a
fall from height, but without seeing the body it was impossible to draw a firm
conclusion.

On August 9, 2009, she sent her forensic medicine specialist Dr Triyarith

Tehamivong and chief crime scene investigator Pol. Lt. Col. Somchai
Chalermsooksant to Selangor, where they conducted a site visit of the crime
scene, and observed while tests were being conducted. But by that time so many
people had walked in the area that it was difficult to identify anything unusual.
They could not add significant value given the constraints.

Back at the inquest, which seemed intentionally draggy, the government

pathologist, Dr Khairul, testified that he was certain Beng Hock committed
suicide, ruling out homicide, saying that all wounds on his body were consistent
with a fall and there were no signs of pre-fall struggle whatsoever. In short, no
pre-fall injury indicated that he committed suicide.

This was a direct discrepancy with what Dr Porntip had observed based on the
photos. It was time to arrange for her to come personally and attend the inquest,
where previously she was preoccupied with work. Finally the stars aligned: on
Monday September 14, 2009, Dr Porntip arrived at the Shah Alam court and
declared that marks on Beng Hocks body suggested he had been tortured and
strangled. A month later, she came back again on October 21, 2009, for another
testimony at the inquest, where she announced that there was an 80% possibility

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of homicide and 20% chance of suicide, because his injuries were inconsistent
with a fall.

Foolishly in my haste, I had not considered any security for Dr Porntip for the first
two visits despite how high-profile and politically charged the case was.
Travelling to and from locations were just her, her assistant Praew, and myself.
On the day of the inquest, we just drove to McDonalds in Shah Alam and had a
simple lunch there. Dr Porntip ate very little, and never touched meat because
she said it reminded her of human flesh being dissected.

After sending her and her assistant off at KLIA in October, I was walking back
across the hall when suddenly a man took a photo of me with his handphone
from a distance. I immediately tried to follow him to do the same to him, but he
quickly scurried away.

And then again: as I was moving towards the doorway of Exit 4 of the departure
hall a few minutes later, the same man walked by me on the right side in the
opposite direction, and muttered under his breath, but clearly enough for me to
hear, Nanti kamu tahu. I knew this was a veiled threat and hurried to the car
waiting for me outside.

I thought little of it and returned to the case.

After Dr Porntips revelation in court, the family contacted me via Kerk and
indicated that they would be willing to have Beng Hocks body exhumed for a
second autopsy. I felt a rush of relief, but also anxious that the body would not be
sufficiently intact for a proper examination after more than three months.

Another rush of activity, this time to arrange the exhumation, second autopsy and
reburial: I spoke to Datuk Freddy of Nirvana, who proudly assured me that they
had embalmed Beng Hocks body particularly well because he suspected that the
body would need to be seen again.

So it was settled: Dr Porntip would fly in with her assistant, the exhumation would
take place on Sunday November 21, 2009, and the body would be transported to
Sungai Buloh hospital and kept overnight. The autopsy would be conducted the
following day.

It was a bright cool morning when Beng Hocks body was exhumed. A 30-foot
area around the lot was cordoned off by the police. At least ten Chinese Special
Branch officers were present, several of whom struck up a conversation with me
while waiting under the canopy.

The Fengshui master had advised that nobody should be in bright clothing at the
exhumation ceremony. Those born in the years 1924 and 1984 (year of the rat)
and 1935 and 1995 (year of the pig) should not be present. For those born in

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other years of the rat and pig, they would be allowed to attend but not look when
the coffin was lifted from the grave and to the vehicle.

There was concern that the body might get conveniently lost while being stored
at the hospital, so the family decided to take turns sleeping in front of the
mortuarys door. Everyone was exhausted with little sleep. The autopsy was
conducted smoothly, also in the presence of another foreign pathologist, Dr Peter
Vanezis, MACCs appointment. The body was reburied at 10am on November
24.

Having learnt my lesson, this time I had secured a private bodyguard for Dr
Porntip. Sure enough, another car followed our car everywhere we went. We had
no idea who they were.

It was late at night after a long day of the autopsy. After dinner with the lawyers
and dropping Dr Porntip back at One World Hotel in Bandar Utama, the driver
was about to send me back to my house. We noticed a man trying to hide from
us, ducking behind a van not a very good spy, I thought.

He got into his car and started following us. I told the driver not to bring me back
home yet, since I didnt want this stranger knowing where I lived. And so we
drove on. And on. Up and down highways, speeding round corners, trying to get
rid of this nuisance of attempted intimidation. He had halogen headlights on, so
we could see his car from miles behind us. 1am, 2am.

Finally, my driver devised a plan. He drove into the Shell station in Shah Alam
through its back access road. His members were already there, several cars
blocking the entrance so the other car would be trapped after following us in. In
the meantime, I had arranged for my friend to be there. When my driver said the
word go, I leapt from the Selangor car to that of my friends. The plan worked
we sped off through the back of the station and I was delivered safely home at
3am. July 17, 2017.

* Tricia Yeoh was Research Officer to the Selangor Menteri Besar from January
2009 to March 2011 and represented the Selangor state government in
managing the Teoh Beng Hock case.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily
represent the views of The Malaysian Insight.

2017 The Malaysian Insight. All Rights Reserved.

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The untold story of the Teoh Beng
Hock case, Final Part
Tricia YeohUpdated 2 days ago Published on 18 Jul 2017 7:00AM 0
comments
themalaysianinsight.com |

THE taxi feels like it is about to fall apart, as Beng Hocks father takes me for a
spin around the neighbourhood in the car that has been his livelihood for most of
his life. It is creaky and shabby, as haggard as he and his wife have become in
recent years, under the weight of their sons death.

Inside the home, plain wooden furniture and an ironing board line the hallway.
Old photographs of Beng Hock on the wall show him keen and earnest, a young
man waiting to take on the world.

I interview the parents Teoh Leong Hwee and Teng Shuw Hoi in 2012, three
years after the incident. I spend countless hours going through every report
again, trying to pick out inconsistencies the way the lawyers did before. I am
haunted by dreams at night scenes from the funeral displayed on a large
screen, a melancholic tune playing in the background.

You feel powerless when you have all of the states institutions operating against
you.

On January 2, 2010, the MACC lodged a police report against Dr Porntip for
allegedly leaking the post mortem report to unauthorised persons. This was
following an interview she had given to Suara Keadilan, although the article
actually cites sources from within the Ministry of Health.

This was obviously an attempt to further intimidate her and interfere with the due
administration of justice, as she was to come one final time to give her testimony
at the inquest following the second autopsy.

And it worked: Dr Porntip was reluctant to come to Malaysia. She was upset that
she had helped willingly but instead had a report lodged against her. More
importantly, she feared getting arrested upon landing on Malaysian soil. I wrote
to her many times to persuade her to change her mind. The entire exercise of the
second autopsy would come to naught if she did not submit the final report. It
would be a walkover.

It was only when the Malaysian Attorney-General cleared Dr Porntip of any

wrongdoing that she changed her mind.

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But another obstacle came up. The Thai Ministry of Justice would not give her
the permission to come. Dr Porntip was actively doing forensic work in the south
of Thailand, which included transit to the border of Malaysia. Certain government
officials from Malaysia had placed political pressure on the Thai government to
block her from entering these areas. Suddenly this became a transboundary
issue between two nations, a delicate situation I would be partially responsible for
treading on.

We had hit a dead end. For four months, we had tried to negotiate with Dr
Porntip but to no avail.

To our surprise, the Malaysian government suddenly became friendly Home

Minister Hishammuddin Hussein even offered police protection for her safety. We
tried another tactic: how about a video conference where Dr Porntip could be
projected over the screen? Possible, but the court kept postponing the dates and
there was no further word.

Finally, in July 2010, I received an email from Praew saying the Thai Ministry of
Justice had a change of heart, and gave Dr Porntip the approval to attend the
inquest in person. My heart leapt for joy we were reaching the end and there
would finally be some answers.

Since the government had offered police protection, we weighed the matter and
decided it would be best to take them up on this offer. It was a double-edged
sword there would be protection but equally we could not tell to what extent the
police would be cooperative with the state government, given they report back to
Putrajaya.

I summoned my courage to meet with the police at the Selangor police

headquarters in Shah Alam. The man in charge was large and gruff, grunting his
way through the meeting luckily, I had the foresight of bringing a male
colleague with me because this top cop obviously had better things to do than
acknowledge my presence. In any case, he agreed. Three policemen would
accompany me throughout Dr Porntips visit: a special branch officer and two
others from the criminal investigation division.

Organising this final visit was like conducting a live performance with multiple
stage actors; lawyers, forensic pathology team from Thailand, the national police,
our private bodyguard, backup security car from the state government, the Teoh
family, and the politicians.

On August 18, 2010, Dr Porntip attended the inquest and gave her final
testimony before the judge; that Beng Hock had bruises on the neck, where
blood from these contusions extended deep into the muscle beneath the skin.
This injury, she said, could have been caused by a blunt object prior to the fall.

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She said this based on her experience of examining more than 70 cases of a fall
from height by suicide, none of which had injuries on their necks.

There were numerous other inconsistencies that were raised during the inquest,
which this article was not meant to delve into. But recall that this was the main
point of contention: if he had been struck unconscious before he fell, then there
was no way it could have been suicide. If he was unconscious as a result of his
injuries, then perhaps he was assisted out of that window in an unconscious
state. There are some things I cannot say bluntly. But the implication here is
clear.

Everything else that happened after that was a blur for me. The police became
good buddies of ours and they all wanted photographs with Dr Porntip as we bid
the Thai team farewell at KLIA. I remember being overcome by immense relief.
For more than a year I had pushed as hard as I could to get a second expert
opinion. And at least this, I thought, would turn the tide.

When the coroner, Azmil Muntapha Abas, delivered an open verdict in the
inquest on January 5, 2011, I was devastated. I felt emotionally spent all those
months of trying, pushing the boulder up the hill, all gone in an instant.

It was not long after that that I decided to leave the Selangor MBs office. At that
time, I did not know the events were connected but looking back, handling this
case might have taken more of a toll on me than I knew.

That was the last of the duties that I performed on behalf of the state government
with regards to the case. What followed next is well recorded.

The government-formed Royal Commission of Inquiry conducted hearings for six

months before concluding on July 21, 2011 that Beng Hock was driven to suicide
due to the aggressive interrogation methods deployed by MACC officers, which
caused public uproar.

The state government and Beng Hocks family had both long withdrawn from the
RCI citing inconsistencies in the manner of conducting the RCI (the RCI had
independently requested for Dr Porntip to give her testimony, which she did).

But what gave a glimmer of hope was the Court of Appeals unanimous ruling on
5 September 2014 that Beng Hock's death was caused by an unlawful act by a
person or persons unknown, including MACC officers who were involved in his
arrest and investigation. It ruled that this was a custodial death while under
MACC detention. This ruling was a vindication for the entire team that had
worked tirelessly on behalf of the family and state government. It was a
bittersweet moment.

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The ruling also instructed the police to reopen the investigation. But on May 19,
2015, Minister in the Prime Ministers Department Nancy Shukri said in
parliament that the Attorney General found no criminal element involved in the
death of Beng Hock after examining the report of the polices special taskforce.

It was a death that catalysed the MACC to professionalise itself by introducing

new standard operating procedures for its interrogations and investigations. And
all this should certainly be commended, so that a senseless death like this never
again takes place.

However, Hishamuddin Hashim, the person who led the interrogation of Teoh
Beng Hock back in 2009, is today the Director of the Special Operations Division
at the MACC. I have come to respect many officers of the MACC as most are
simply doing their jobs. But I cannot and will not dismiss the wrongdoing of the
one or ones responsible for the death of Teoh Beng Hock. Eight years on, we are
no closer to finding the truth of what may remain an unsolved case. July 18,
2017.

* Tricia Yeoh was Research Officer to the Selangor Menteri Besar from January
2009 to March 2011 and represented the Selangor state government in
managing the Teoh Beng Hock case.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily
represent the views of The Malaysian Insight.

2017 The Malaysian Insight. All Rights Reserved.

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