Thousands gather in PJ to express outrage

(The Star) PETALING JAYA: Thousands turned up at a special gathering organised by the Pakatan Rakyat here in memory of Teoh Beng Hock who died in the vicinity of the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corrup- tion Commission office on Thurs- day.

Those present at the Kelana Jaya Stadium pressed for the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the mysterious death of Teoh.

Most of those who were at the stadium wore black, holding banners and posters of Teoh.

Among the banners read ‘MACC Murderer?’ and ‘Justice For Beng Hock’.

White flowers were also distributed among the crowd at the rally that lasted more than two hours.

At one point, some Pakatan supporters burnt copies of two Bahasa Malaysia dailies to show their disgust that the issue was politicised by the dailies.

Pakatan leaders who attended the gathering included DAP chairman Karpal Singh, Kelantan PAS deputy commissioner II Datuk Husam Musa, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and state exco members Elizabeth Wong and Teresa Kok.

Teoh was assisting the commission in investigations pertaining to alleged misappropriation of allocations involving several Selangor assemblymen.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, who was one of the leaders who spoke at the Kelana Jaya Stadium yesterday, said the many were still “sad and angry” over the incident that shocked the nation.

In Butterworth, Guan Eng said the party would set up a fund for Teoh’s unborn child.

Teoh’s fiancee Soh Cher Wei, 28, a schoolteacher, who is two months’ pregnant, had said that she would keep the baby and probably apply for a transfer to be with her own family in Batu Pahat, Johor.

More than 1,000 people are expected to gather at Teoh’s family home in Taman Seri Kelemak, Malacca, to pay their final respects before his burial ceremony at the Nirvana Memorial Park in Semenyih today.

According to NV Multi Corpora- tion Berhad senior general manager Datuk Freddy L.F. Chan, the funeral ceremony is scheduled to begin at 8.30am before Teoh’s cortege leaves for the burial in Semenyih at 11am.