By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
ALOR GAJAH, July 19 – Driving to the housing estate where the family home of Teoh Beng Hock is found, the rows of single-storey terrace houses suddenly give way to a long, long tent – about nine houses long.
The tent is packed with about 300 people who are there to pay their respects to Teoh, who died on Thursday under mysterious circumstances.
Some, like a young woman who was a former colleague of Teoh’s when he was a journalist in Sin Chew, are openly crying.
The air is thick with the scent of the many hundreds of wreaths sent by Malaysians, along with messages of grief and shock at the death of the 30-year-old political aide to Sri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah.
Teoh was hauled in by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as part of an on-going investigation into the misuse of state allocations on Wednesday, July 15. He was found dead outside the MACC headquarters the next day.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and several other DAP leaders were among those who came to offer condolences to Teoh’s family here this afternoon. During his half-hour stay, he had a private conversation with Teoh’s parents.
The father, Teoh Leong Hwee looked calm and composed but with the grief plain in his eyes while his wife, Teng Shuw Hor, looked completely devastated and in a daze. She hardly spoke and just stared into the distance.
“This is an emotional moment. I, as the Penang Chief Minister, together with the people of Penang are angered and want a royal inquiry. There is no way Teoh committed suicide,” Guan Eng told The Malaysian Insider. “He was murdered and we want the culprits arrested. The family and the people want the truth. Police should not close the case. There is no way there was no foul play.”
He also said that DAP would set up a fund to help Teoh’s fiancee Soh Cher Wei, who is two months pregnant. They were to have been married on the day he was found dead.
Teoh’s casket is under the porch outside the house.
Despite the many protestations from the family that they did not want his death to be politicised, there is a board filled with newspaper clippings right at the entrance to the house. The only wreath placed here is the one from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife.
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Did he send one to Altantuya's family as well?