Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Royal Commission of Inquiry set up!
Yeah!Finally and luckily our PM has granted the wish of most Malaysians to set up an inquest to investigate the murder of Teoh Beng Hock. Before I proceed, I would like to express my sincere condolences to all the families of Teoh Beng Hock especially his wife to be. Hope that justice will prevail and the truth will be found out soon.It is really shock and sad to here that an innocent witness has fallen to his death. What is Malysia now?It hangs on a big question mark now.Even now MACC cannot be trusted. Initially, MACC was set up by Pak Lah a few months ago to replace the then ACA. It turn out to be a good and fair commission in my point of view at first because they really take the effort to burst corruption. But my confidence on them fade away when this case happened. Even MACC is corrupted. If you were to read the news from Malaysia Today that I have posted here, they are actually so so corrupted. MACC is as corrupt as the seas in Malaysia!They use force and they killed Beng Hock. Who should we trust now???Hope the case will be solved as soon as possible and punish the murderer!
Thumbs up to Royal Commission of Inquiry!
PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet has agreed to set up an inquest into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock as well as a Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into the interrogation methods used on him by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Cabinet during its meeting Wednesday also decided that the inquest into Teoh’s cause of death would be headed by a magistrate as dictated by law.
It will be up to the courts to decide which magistrate would be in charge of the inquest, he added.
Najib said the courts had already been notified of the Cabinet decision and he expected the inquest to begin sometime next week.
“The Royal Commission will be set up according to specific terms, which is to scrutinise and study the procedures related to interrogations that are used by the MACC. It will also identify if there were any violations of human rights during Teoh’s interrogation.
“The members of the Commission will be announced later ,” he told a press conference here Wednesday.
He said the investigations by the Royal Commission were necessary to ensure there was no repeat of such incidents and the steps being taken mirrored the Government’s commitment to finding out the cause of death so that Teoh’s family and the public can know what really happened.
Teoh, 30, was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam last Thursday after giving his statement to the Selangor MACC which had been investigating allegations that certain state assemblymen had misused constituency funds.
Teoh, Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah’s political secretary, was not a suspect but had been questioned as a witness.
Najib said that in line with the 1Malaysia concept of “People First, Performance Now,” he had told the Cabinet that government institutions were created to protect the people’s rights and interests, and as such they cannot act against or neglect these interests or act beyond the country’s laws and Constitution.
He said the Cabinet also ordered the Home Ministry and the police to complete the investigations into the Teoh’s death as soon as possible and he was told that it would be ready within the next few days.
He said the report would be made public when it was completed and he would personally meet with Teoh’s family to explain to them the findings.
He also said that Cabinet members were just as anxious to know the cause of death and hoped that all parties would be patient and refrain from making statements that could cause confusion or create the wrong perception on the issue while the investigations were still ongoing.
He also called on all parties not to politicise Teoh’s death.
The following are Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s responses to questions from the media:
Was there any pressure to form the Commission?Najib: No. It’s because we want to establish the truth and it’s important for us to ensure public faith and confidence in important institutions that we have in this country.
When do you think the police can complete their investigations? What kind of time frame will be set?I know that the police can wrap up their investigations very soon. I think we are talking about a matter of days. For the magistrate (on the inquest), I don’t want to put a time frame because that is up to the magistrate to decide (on when it should be held). The Royal Commission will be established quite soon.
The investigation by the Royal Commission, will it be into Teoh’s death?It will be on the procedures (of MACC interrogations). The inquest will look into Teoh’s death,
Who will be the members of the Commission?We will announce this later.
Have you named the magistrate?No, that is up to the court to decide. We have taken steps to notify the court of the need to convene an inquest. So I expect the inquest to start some time within next week.
There’s an online news portal (saying) that the MACC has suspended their investigation into the alleged misuse of constituency funds by Selangor exco members.No, we cannot have any presumption (of guilt). We have to wait for the results of the investigations first.
What will the Commission investigate?It will be on the (MACC’s) procedures relating to its investigation, not the investigation on Teoh’s death and the normal investigations conducted by the MACC.
Has the MACC investigation team been suspended?They have not been suspended, but the lead investigator has been reassigned to the (MACC) headquarters. We cannot have a presumption of guilt.
Will the Commission investigate Teoh’s death?No, the death will be left to the inquest. The inquest on the cause of death is conducted by a magistrate, so we have to follow the law (Zulkifli and Dharmender, 2009).
Zulkifli, A. R., Dharmender, S. (2009, July 22). Inquest into Teoh’s death, Royal Commission on MACC's treatment. Retrieved July 23, 2009, from
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/22/nation/20090722172058&sec=nation
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Cabinet during its meeting Wednesday also decided that the inquest into Teoh’s cause of death would be headed by a magistrate as dictated by law.
It will be up to the courts to decide which magistrate would be in charge of the inquest, he added.
Najib said the courts had already been notified of the Cabinet decision and he expected the inquest to begin sometime next week.
“The Royal Commission will be set up according to specific terms, which is to scrutinise and study the procedures related to interrogations that are used by the MACC. It will also identify if there were any violations of human rights during Teoh’s interrogation.
“The members of the Commission will be announced later ,” he told a press conference here Wednesday.
He said the investigations by the Royal Commission were necessary to ensure there was no repeat of such incidents and the steps being taken mirrored the Government’s commitment to finding out the cause of death so that Teoh’s family and the public can know what really happened.
Teoh, 30, was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam last Thursday after giving his statement to the Selangor MACC which had been investigating allegations that certain state assemblymen had misused constituency funds.
Teoh, Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah’s political secretary, was not a suspect but had been questioned as a witness.
Najib said that in line with the 1Malaysia concept of “People First, Performance Now,” he had told the Cabinet that government institutions were created to protect the people’s rights and interests, and as such they cannot act against or neglect these interests or act beyond the country’s laws and Constitution.
He said the Cabinet also ordered the Home Ministry and the police to complete the investigations into the Teoh’s death as soon as possible and he was told that it would be ready within the next few days.
He said the report would be made public when it was completed and he would personally meet with Teoh’s family to explain to them the findings.
He also said that Cabinet members were just as anxious to know the cause of death and hoped that all parties would be patient and refrain from making statements that could cause confusion or create the wrong perception on the issue while the investigations were still ongoing.
He also called on all parties not to politicise Teoh’s death.
The following are Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s responses to questions from the media:
Was there any pressure to form the Commission?Najib: No. It’s because we want to establish the truth and it’s important for us to ensure public faith and confidence in important institutions that we have in this country.
When do you think the police can complete their investigations? What kind of time frame will be set?I know that the police can wrap up their investigations very soon. I think we are talking about a matter of days. For the magistrate (on the inquest), I don’t want to put a time frame because that is up to the magistrate to decide (on when it should be held). The Royal Commission will be established quite soon.
The investigation by the Royal Commission, will it be into Teoh’s death?It will be on the procedures (of MACC interrogations). The inquest will look into Teoh’s death,
Who will be the members of the Commission?We will announce this later.
Have you named the magistrate?No, that is up to the court to decide. We have taken steps to notify the court of the need to convene an inquest. So I expect the inquest to start some time within next week.
There’s an online news portal (saying) that the MACC has suspended their investigation into the alleged misuse of constituency funds by Selangor exco members.No, we cannot have any presumption (of guilt). We have to wait for the results of the investigations first.
What will the Commission investigate?It will be on the (MACC’s) procedures relating to its investigation, not the investigation on Teoh’s death and the normal investigations conducted by the MACC.
Has the MACC investigation team been suspended?They have not been suspended, but the lead investigator has been reassigned to the (MACC) headquarters. We cannot have a presumption of guilt.
Will the Commission investigate Teoh’s death?No, the death will be left to the inquest. The inquest on the cause of death is conducted by a magistrate, so we have to follow the law (Zulkifli and Dharmender, 2009).
Zulkifli, A. R., Dharmender, S. (2009, July 22). Inquest into Teoh’s death, Royal Commission on MACC's treatment. Retrieved July 23, 2009, from
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/22/nation/20090722172058&sec=nation
Monday, July 20, 2009
Teoh’s death probe: No CCTV footage of him leaving building
SHAH ALAM: Initial viewing of the closed circuit television recordings shows political aide Teoh Beng Hock entering the Plaza Masalam building here where the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has its office on the afternoon of July 15, but there is no footage showing him coming out.
Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said his men were trying to determine the sequence of events that led to Teoh’s death.
The MACC, investigating the alleged misuse of constituency funds by Selangor state representatives, had taken in Teoh for questioning last Wednesday, July 15. It was the last time he was seen alive by the outside world.
The MACC said it had released Teoh at about 3:45 on July 16, after nearly eight hours of interrogation. A janitor found his body at 1:30pm that day on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam.
“We are comparing the post-mortem report; we have found that death occurred four to five hours before his body was found,” DCP Khalid said.
He added that police were also looking into the possibility of underworld links in the case, and said that the investigation was about 60% complete.
On Sunday, police took documents from the MACC office here, as well as CCTV recordings from Plaza Masalam, as part of its investigation.
The police will call in three men -- two assemblymen and a municipal councillor -- this week to record their statement, he added.
“We need needs the cooperation of Sri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M. Manoharan and Kajang Municipal councillor Tan Boon Wah to help in the investigations,” he said.
Teoh, a former journalist, was Ean Yong’s political secretary.
DCP Khalid said that Ean Yong and Manoharan were needed for the investigation as the two had spoken to Teoh before he was taken into MACC custody.
“We need to know what transpired at that time,” he said.
He said that police had contacted Tan to have his statement recorded, but he refused to go to the police station.
He added that Tan had lodged a police report at the Shah Alam police station but he refused to come in for a detailed statement.
“This leaves us no choice but to issue a notice under Section 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code to summon him to the police station,” he said.
Earlier Monday at the Selangor Police Contingent here, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, who had a three-hour closed door meeting with DCP Khalid and other officers, said the police will wrap up the case as soon as possible (Rajendra, 2009)
Rajendra, E. (2009, July 20). Teoh’s death probe: No CCTV footage of him leaving building. Retrieved July 21, 2009, from
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/20/nation/20090720133808&sec=nation
Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said his men were trying to determine the sequence of events that led to Teoh’s death.
The MACC, investigating the alleged misuse of constituency funds by Selangor state representatives, had taken in Teoh for questioning last Wednesday, July 15. It was the last time he was seen alive by the outside world.
The MACC said it had released Teoh at about 3:45 on July 16, after nearly eight hours of interrogation. A janitor found his body at 1:30pm that day on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam.
“We are comparing the post-mortem report; we have found that death occurred four to five hours before his body was found,” DCP Khalid said.
He added that police were also looking into the possibility of underworld links in the case, and said that the investigation was about 60% complete.
On Sunday, police took documents from the MACC office here, as well as CCTV recordings from Plaza Masalam, as part of its investigation.
The police will call in three men -- two assemblymen and a municipal councillor -- this week to record their statement, he added.
“We need needs the cooperation of Sri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M. Manoharan and Kajang Municipal councillor Tan Boon Wah to help in the investigations,” he said.
Teoh, a former journalist, was Ean Yong’s political secretary.
DCP Khalid said that Ean Yong and Manoharan were needed for the investigation as the two had spoken to Teoh before he was taken into MACC custody.
“We need to know what transpired at that time,” he said.
He said that police had contacted Tan to have his statement recorded, but he refused to go to the police station.
He added that Tan had lodged a police report at the Shah Alam police station but he refused to come in for a detailed statement.
“This leaves us no choice but to issue a notice under Section 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code to summon him to the police station,” he said.
Earlier Monday at the Selangor Police Contingent here, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, who had a three-hour closed door meeting with DCP Khalid and other officers, said the police will wrap up the case as soon as possible (Rajendra, 2009)
Rajendra, E. (2009, July 20). Teoh’s death probe: No CCTV footage of him leaving building. Retrieved July 21, 2009, from
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/20/nation/20090720133808&sec=nation
Shock killing done by MACC
The writing was already on the wall so long ago
Thursday, 16 July 2009 23:49
This has been going on for far too long. The MACC acts like God. They kidnap families and torture those they arrest. They threaten those they interrogate with death if they refuse to talk.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
The writing was already on the wall very much earlier. Alarm bells were wailing like banshees. But this was largely ignored. It was ignored because it was Malaysia Today that had triggered the alarm bells. Malaysia Today is not the most reliable source. It does not offer the best of information. What Malaysia Today dabbles in are rumours and innuendoes.When the Anti-Corruption Agency, now called the MACC, kidnapped the family of a police inspector, Malaysia Today raised the alarm. They had kidnapped the wife and child of a police inspector who had investigated a Chinese underworld boss on the instructions of a higher-up with the rank of ASP.The inspector was just doing what his boss had ordered him to do, and that was to open a file and launch an investigation into the activities of the Chinese prostitution, loan shark, drugs and gambling syndicate. And this resulted in the detention of three syndicate bosses.What the MACC wanted the police inspector to do was quite simple. They wanted him to change his report so that the three underworld bosses can be freed from detention. And he would have to do that if he wants to secure the release of his family.The police inspector refused to do that. Instead, he made a police report. And so did his wife. But nothing was done about the matter. The MACC officers were not arrested and dragged to court on kidnapping charges.The MACC then leaked information to the media that they are investigating a very senior police officer, the Director of the CCD, for the crime of not declaring RM27 million worth of assets. The fact that MACC investigations come under the Official Secrets Act was not a hindrance. After all, the OSA is only used against opposition supporters and not against those who serve those who walk in the corridors of power.Nevertheless, the Director of the CCD was finally not charged for not declaring RM27 million in assets. He was charged for using police property for his personal reasons, something that all government officers, ministers and politicians do blatantly every day of the week. But his real crime is that he detained several Chinese underworld bosses who control the prostitution, loan shark, drugs and gambling business all over Malaysia.Then they arrested the lawyer who acted for the CCD Director. The MACC officers came to his office on the eve of Hari Raya and handcuffed him after roughing him up like one would do to an armed bank robber. To ensure that the lawyer suffered the greatest embarrassment this Hollywood-style arrest was done in full view of the entire office.Malaysia Today wrote about all this. Malaysia Today not only wrote about all this but Malaysia Today repeated the stories again and again to make sure no one would say they somehow missed the story. But still nothing was done. No one denied the story. More importantly, no one did anything about what Malaysia Today revealed.The MACC has been a tool of those who walk in the corridors of power for a long, long time. Officially, Barisan Nasional has 14 component members with Umno as the lead partner. Unofficially, Barisan Nasional has seventeen component members. The Election Commission is the fifteenth component member of Barisan Nasional, the Malaysian police the sixteenth, and the MACC the seventeenth. They all serve the interests of Umno and the Prime Minister.The writing was already on the wall very much earlier. Alarm bells were wailing like banshees. But this was largely ignored. It was ignored because it was Malaysia Today that had triggered the alarm bells. Malaysia Today is not the most reliable source. It does not offer the best of information. What Malaysia Today dabbles in are rumours and innuendoes.“Where is the smoking gun?” they ask. “Show me the body!” they demand. No gun, no body, then no crime has been committed.Well, today, there is a body. It is the body of a most unfortunate Chinese opposition member who was arrested and tortured by the MACC officers. Yes, he was tortured. And he was tortured because the MACC wanted him to talk.But he could not talk. He could not talk because there was nothing to talk about. The MACC wanted him to finger his comrades in the opposition. They wanted him to implicate his friends in the opposition for various crimes that the MACC alleges had been committed by those in the opposition.He tried to explain that he is not being stubborn. He tried to explain that no crime had been committed. He tried to explain that he could not possibly implicate his comrades in the opposition for various crimes if these crimes are merely a figment of the MACC’s imagination.So they continued to torture him. And he could no longer stand the torture. After all, he is not the macho type of man. He is but a gentle man who only wanted to get married this weekend. That was all that he wanted.They threatened to kill him if he refuses to talk. With tears running down his cheeks he begged for mercy and pleaded with them not to harm him. They threatened to throw him off the top floor if he refuses to talk. Sobbing like a baby he went down on his knees and begged for his life.They dragged him across the room and opened the window. Then something went terribly wrong. It was supposed to be just a threat. They just wanted to put fear in him. They did not really want to throw him off the top floor. They just wanted him to see what the ground floor looks like from the top floor.The unfortunate young man panicked. He went ballistic when he saw the distance he would have to travel before hitting the ground floor. He struggled. They could not hold onto him. Gravity took over and the life of this young man was prematurely snuffed out.The MACC then announced that they had released him the night before. They failed to announce that they had not released him from custody but released him from this world. Then they suddenly found his body the day after. He jumped. He committed suicide. He took his own life. He was never tortured. He was not dragged to the window with the threat that they would teach him how to fly.This has been going on for far too long. The MACC acts like God. They kidnap families and torture those they arrest. They threaten those they interrogate with death if they refuse to talk.And now one young man has really died. But no one will be punished. No one will be punished because they will say the young man took his own life. Why he took his own life no one knows. He was never tortured. He was never threatened with death. He was not made to look how far down the ground floor is. He was not accidentally dropped when he panicked and struggled and they could not get a good grip on him.That is what they will be telling you and me later today(Kamarudin, 2009).
Kamarudin, R.P. (2009, July 16). The Corridors of Power. Retrieved July 21, 2009, from
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/24426/84/
Thursday, 16 July 2009 23:49
This has been going on for far too long. The MACC acts like God. They kidnap families and torture those they arrest. They threaten those they interrogate with death if they refuse to talk.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
The writing was already on the wall very much earlier. Alarm bells were wailing like banshees. But this was largely ignored. It was ignored because it was Malaysia Today that had triggered the alarm bells. Malaysia Today is not the most reliable source. It does not offer the best of information. What Malaysia Today dabbles in are rumours and innuendoes.When the Anti-Corruption Agency, now called the MACC, kidnapped the family of a police inspector, Malaysia Today raised the alarm. They had kidnapped the wife and child of a police inspector who had investigated a Chinese underworld boss on the instructions of a higher-up with the rank of ASP.The inspector was just doing what his boss had ordered him to do, and that was to open a file and launch an investigation into the activities of the Chinese prostitution, loan shark, drugs and gambling syndicate. And this resulted in the detention of three syndicate bosses.What the MACC wanted the police inspector to do was quite simple. They wanted him to change his report so that the three underworld bosses can be freed from detention. And he would have to do that if he wants to secure the release of his family.The police inspector refused to do that. Instead, he made a police report. And so did his wife. But nothing was done about the matter. The MACC officers were not arrested and dragged to court on kidnapping charges.The MACC then leaked information to the media that they are investigating a very senior police officer, the Director of the CCD, for the crime of not declaring RM27 million worth of assets. The fact that MACC investigations come under the Official Secrets Act was not a hindrance. After all, the OSA is only used against opposition supporters and not against those who serve those who walk in the corridors of power.Nevertheless, the Director of the CCD was finally not charged for not declaring RM27 million in assets. He was charged for using police property for his personal reasons, something that all government officers, ministers and politicians do blatantly every day of the week. But his real crime is that he detained several Chinese underworld bosses who control the prostitution, loan shark, drugs and gambling business all over Malaysia.Then they arrested the lawyer who acted for the CCD Director. The MACC officers came to his office on the eve of Hari Raya and handcuffed him after roughing him up like one would do to an armed bank robber. To ensure that the lawyer suffered the greatest embarrassment this Hollywood-style arrest was done in full view of the entire office.Malaysia Today wrote about all this. Malaysia Today not only wrote about all this but Malaysia Today repeated the stories again and again to make sure no one would say they somehow missed the story. But still nothing was done. No one denied the story. More importantly, no one did anything about what Malaysia Today revealed.The MACC has been a tool of those who walk in the corridors of power for a long, long time. Officially, Barisan Nasional has 14 component members with Umno as the lead partner. Unofficially, Barisan Nasional has seventeen component members. The Election Commission is the fifteenth component member of Barisan Nasional, the Malaysian police the sixteenth, and the MACC the seventeenth. They all serve the interests of Umno and the Prime Minister.The writing was already on the wall very much earlier. Alarm bells were wailing like banshees. But this was largely ignored. It was ignored because it was Malaysia Today that had triggered the alarm bells. Malaysia Today is not the most reliable source. It does not offer the best of information. What Malaysia Today dabbles in are rumours and innuendoes.“Where is the smoking gun?” they ask. “Show me the body!” they demand. No gun, no body, then no crime has been committed.Well, today, there is a body. It is the body of a most unfortunate Chinese opposition member who was arrested and tortured by the MACC officers. Yes, he was tortured. And he was tortured because the MACC wanted him to talk.But he could not talk. He could not talk because there was nothing to talk about. The MACC wanted him to finger his comrades in the opposition. They wanted him to implicate his friends in the opposition for various crimes that the MACC alleges had been committed by those in the opposition.He tried to explain that he is not being stubborn. He tried to explain that no crime had been committed. He tried to explain that he could not possibly implicate his comrades in the opposition for various crimes if these crimes are merely a figment of the MACC’s imagination.So they continued to torture him. And he could no longer stand the torture. After all, he is not the macho type of man. He is but a gentle man who only wanted to get married this weekend. That was all that he wanted.They threatened to kill him if he refuses to talk. With tears running down his cheeks he begged for mercy and pleaded with them not to harm him. They threatened to throw him off the top floor if he refuses to talk. Sobbing like a baby he went down on his knees and begged for his life.They dragged him across the room and opened the window. Then something went terribly wrong. It was supposed to be just a threat. They just wanted to put fear in him. They did not really want to throw him off the top floor. They just wanted him to see what the ground floor looks like from the top floor.The unfortunate young man panicked. He went ballistic when he saw the distance he would have to travel before hitting the ground floor. He struggled. They could not hold onto him. Gravity took over and the life of this young man was prematurely snuffed out.The MACC then announced that they had released him the night before. They failed to announce that they had not released him from custody but released him from this world. Then they suddenly found his body the day after. He jumped. He committed suicide. He took his own life. He was never tortured. He was not dragged to the window with the threat that they would teach him how to fly.This has been going on for far too long. The MACC acts like God. They kidnap families and torture those they arrest. They threaten those they interrogate with death if they refuse to talk.And now one young man has really died. But no one will be punished. No one will be punished because they will say the young man took his own life. Why he took his own life no one knows. He was never tortured. He was never threatened with death. He was not made to look how far down the ground floor is. He was not accidentally dropped when he panicked and struggled and they could not get a good grip on him.That is what they will be telling you and me later today(Kamarudin, 2009).
Kamarudin, R.P. (2009, July 16). The Corridors of Power. Retrieved July 21, 2009, from
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/24426/84/
Sunday, July 5, 2009
‘Ray of hope’ that turned out to be a nightmare
KUALA KUBU BARU: We were hit by the stench of faeces and urine the minute we walked into the men’s block at Taman Sinar Harapan located in a secluded area of the town here.
Mr A, a volunteer from a non-governmental organisation who goes to the hom
e every Sunday to clean and feed the residents, opened the locked door at the back of the block and we were stunned by what greeted us.
About 30 stark naked men were inside the room, either lying down or sitting on the wet marble floor. In one part of the room, we saw a pool of blood, still fresh and red, on the floor.
Half of the men were locked behind bars like animals in a zoo while the others were able to move about in the front portion of the room. Those in the “jail cells” were segregated so that they would not harm their non-violent roommates.
“Those who are accidentally placed inside the cells with the more aggressive residents would be beaten or abused,” the volunteer revealed.
Most of them looked no older than 50 but they were just skin and bones and some looked extremely frail. One resident was lying on his stomach on a wooden bench and had passed motion; we almost gagged at its stench.
Fans were installed inside the room for better ventilation but that was the only luxury the men had. There were no beds, no toilets and not even blankets to keep them warm on cold rainy nights.
Those who were not in the “jail cells” were given beds but without any mattresses or pillows. They were, however, chained to the bed frame with metal chains and a steel lock.
We were told by a volunteer that they were restricted to prevent them from hurting themselves. The volunteer also shared that the men were not given any clothing as they had used their shirts to strangle themselves or the other men in the past.
After a briefing by Mr A, we got down to work. We were put in charge of spreading mats and towels on the floor.
The volunteers were all given different tasks. A group of about six or seven men were in charge of bathing the locked-up residents, the women were in charge of preparing the food and feeding the residents while the rest (there were two children in the volunteer group) were in charge of cleaning up the place and washing their clothes.
The residents were hosed down with water and soap by volunteers dressed in construction boots and a water proof apron.
After that, the male volunteers carried the naked men to the front part of the building for us to towel dry them.
After sensing our discomfort, a female volunteer nearby said: “It’s okay, they’re just like babies, you know, they don’t know anything.”
We proceeded to wipe them dry one by one before we were told to feed them with the yong tau foo bought by one of the volunteers.
The food was mashed to bits and mixed with soup to minimise the need to chew and to make feeding an easier task. so that the residents only needed to swallow them.
As we fed them, some ate obediently while others were greedy and stuffed their hands inside the bowls to take out larger portions of the food.
Some volunteers reprimanded the greedy ones who crawled towards the table to help themselves to more food. We noticed that some of the mentally disabled residents liked to hit themselves repeatedly. When we tried to stop them, they would fight back or just hit their body against the floor.
Mid-way through feeding, some volunteers suddenly rushed over to a young resident whose head was bleeding profusely. We were told that the boy had slipped and fell.
The volunteers immediately dressed him up, put him on a wheelchair and sent him to a hospital nearby.
After mopping the floor, we took a break and noticed that the residents were taken back into their cells to be locked up again.
It was nearly 4pm when everything was done. The residents were all bathed, fed and the place was clean enough.
We asked the volunteers what would happen to the residents on weekdays when the group was not there to offer their help.
The naked truth: Some of the inmates who were caged up in the home.
“The caretakers don’t do much. There are only two of them while there are 50 residents. If it’s time to feed them, they would just walk one round with a bowl and feed whoever wants to eat. Those who don’t are left alone,” answered a volunteer.
She divulged that another charitable organisation had brought food for the residents but it was thrown away. “When the group asked why they did such a thing, the caretakers said that the residents would create a bigger mess if there was more food because they would defecate more often,” she said.
After the voluntary group had left, we stayed back to check out the other blocks.
The women’s wing looked cleaner and did not smell as bad but a handful of the women were seen walking about in the nude.
The two caretakers stationed at the block were seen watching TV and chatting.
We noticed that the women’s clothes were laid out to dry on a dirty floor caked with fungus. We walked over to the children’s block which seemed to be the best kept part of the home. It was decorated and there were proper beds. But the children were curiously quiet.
A volunteer claimed that the children were fed with cough syrup so that they would be sleepy and docile. (The Star, 2009)
Mr A, a volunteer from a non-governmental organisation who goes to the hom
e every Sunday to clean and feed the residents, opened the locked door at the back of the block and we were stunned by what greeted us.About 30 stark naked men were inside the room, either lying down or sitting on the wet marble floor. In one part of the room, we saw a pool of blood, still fresh and red, on the floor.
Half of the men were locked behind bars like animals in a zoo while the others were able to move about in the front portion of the room. Those in the “jail cells” were segregated so that they would not harm their non-violent roommates.
“Those who are accidentally placed inside the cells with the more aggressive residents would be beaten or abused,” the volunteer revealed.
Most of them looked no older than 50 but they were just skin and bones and some looked extremely frail. One resident was lying on his stomach on a wooden bench and had passed motion; we almost gagged at its stench.
Fans were installed inside the room for better ventilation but that was the only luxury the men had. There were no beds, no toilets and not even blankets to keep them warm on cold rainy nights.
Those who were not in the “jail cells” were given beds but without any mattresses or pillows. They were, however, chained to the bed frame with metal chains and a steel lock.
We were told by a volunteer that they were restricted to prevent them from hurting themselves. The volunteer also shared that the men were not given any clothing as they had used their shirts to strangle themselves or the other men in the past.
After a briefing by Mr A, we got down to work. We were put in charge of spreading mats and towels on the floor.
The volunteers were all given different tasks. A group of about six or seven men were in charge of bathing the locked-up residents, the women were in charge of preparing the food and feeding the residents while the rest (there were two children in the volunteer group) were in charge of cleaning up the place and washing their clothes.
The residents were hosed down with water and soap by volunteers dressed in construction boots and a water proof apron.
After that, the male volunteers carried the naked men to the front part of the building for us to towel dry them.
After sensing our discomfort, a female volunteer nearby said: “It’s okay, they’re just like babies, you know, they don’t know anything.”
We proceeded to wipe them dry one by one before we were told to feed them with the yong tau foo bought by one of the volunteers.
The food was mashed to bits and mixed with soup to minimise the need to chew and to make feeding an easier task. so that the residents only needed to swallow them.
As we fed them, some ate obediently while others were greedy and stuffed their hands inside the bowls to take out larger portions of the food.
Some volunteers reprimanded the greedy ones who crawled towards the table to help themselves to more food. We noticed that some of the mentally disabled residents liked to hit themselves repeatedly. When we tried to stop them, they would fight back or just hit their body against the floor.
Mid-way through feeding, some volunteers suddenly rushed over to a young resident whose head was bleeding profusely. We were told that the boy had slipped and fell.
The volunteers immediately dressed him up, put him on a wheelchair and sent him to a hospital nearby.
After mopping the floor, we took a break and noticed that the residents were taken back into their cells to be locked up again.
It was nearly 4pm when everything was done. The residents were all bathed, fed and the place was clean enough.
We asked the volunteers what would happen to the residents on weekdays when the group was not there to offer their help.
The naked truth: Some of the inmates who were caged up in the home.
“The caretakers don’t do much. There are only two of them while there are 50 residents. If it’s time to feed them, they would just walk one round with a bowl and feed whoever wants to eat. Those who don’t are left alone,” answered a volunteer.
She divulged that another charitable organisation had brought food for the residents but it was thrown away. “When the group asked why they did such a thing, the caretakers said that the residents would create a bigger mess if there was more food because they would defecate more often,” she said.
After the voluntary group had left, we stayed back to check out the other blocks.
The women’s wing looked cleaner and did not smell as bad but a handful of the women were seen walking about in the nude.
The two caretakers stationed at the block were seen watching TV and chatting.
We noticed that the women’s clothes were laid out to dry on a dirty floor caked with fungus. We walked over to the children’s block which seemed to be the best kept part of the home. It was decorated and there were proper beds. But the children were curiously quiet.
A volunteer claimed that the children were fed with cough syrup so that they would be sleepy and docile. (The Star, 2009)
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