RCI revisits ‘suicide note’
By Teoh El Sen, Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: Handwriting expert Wong Kong Yong today defended his opinion that the same person “most probably” wrote Chinese characters in an alleged suicide note and entries found in Teoh Beng Hock’s notebook.
Giving his testimony before the Royal Commission of Inquiry investigating Teoh’s death, he however agreed with Bar Council lawyer Christopher Leong that he did not have enough samples to give what would normally be considered an “expert opinion”.
Wong, who works with the Chemistry Department, told the inquiry that he found only five distinct Chinese characters that were common between the alleged suicide note and entries in the notebook.
He said he would “generally” be more comfortable if he had more than five characters to work with, but added that in Teoh’s case, he also examined common strokes found in different characters.
Leong also brought up the question of Wong having compared the signature on the alleged suicide note with one found on a photocopy of Teoh’s statement to the MACC. Wong agreed that only an “inferior” comparison could have been made.
During the inquest at the Shah Alam Coroner’s Court that ended last year, Wong stated that the same person wrote some Malay words in a note found in Teoh’s sling bag and the Malay scribbling in his notebook. He also said then that the Chinese characters on the two specimens showed similarities and were “most probably” written by the same person.
The alleged suicide note is controversial because investigating officer ASP Ahmad Nazri Zainal found it only two months after Teoh’s death and tendered it as evidence at the inquest only a year later.
Teoh, who was political aide to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16, 2009, on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam.
He had been interrogated the night before by MACC officers at their office, located on the 14th floor of the same building.
Last Jan 5, coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas returned an open verdict after an inquest, ruling out both suicide and homicide.
Subsequently, the government caved in to public pressure and established the commission now sitting.
It is investigating both the cause of Teoh’s death and MACC’s interrogation methods. The inquiry is scheduled to end on April 25.
