Beng Hock's family skips birthday for Karpal's funeral

For the past four years this day, the family of the late Teoh Beng Hock has been ‘celebrating’ the former DAP political secretary’s birthday. Usually, they would bring balloons, a nice cake, and their prayers to his tombstone; but today was very different. Instead of the annual visit to the grave at Nirvana Memorial Park in Semenyih to remember their son and brother who was lost to them in 2009, the Teoh family decided to attend the funeral of Karpal Singh this morning. “My brother would have wanted us to do this,” said Lee Lan, Beng Hock’s younger sister. “He would have wanted our family to give thanks to Karpal’s family for taking the time to take care of us all these years.” Karpal, whose public funeral accorded with state honours ended in a grand fashion here today, has been helping the Teoh family together with his son Gobind Singh Deo in the various legal battles that followed Beng Hock’s untimely death. On July 16, 2009, Beng Hock was found dead at the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, after being questioned overnight by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers on the 14th floor. In Jan 2011, a coroner’s court had ruled that Beng Hock’s death was not due to suicide and neither did it involve a third-party. Later in December, a High Court had upheld that ruling. However, the family and their lawyers had insisted that Beng Honck was murdered. They are asking a Court of Appeal to decide over the matter and the court is scheduled to hear this appeal on May 12. Another legal issue the Teoh family is pursuing is a negligence suit filed against MACC and 12 others in February last year. “Karpal and Gobind has been with us every step of the way, and they never took a single cent from us,” said Lee Lan, holding back tears, as others lined up to pay their last respects to Karpal earlier this morning. “He (Karpal) was the one who always gave us hope. Despite us failing so many times, he told us, don’t give up. Go on, there is still a way.” “Karpal has given so much, he is not just a very principled man but is very very kind. Not just us, he has helped many people. Society has suffered a great loss,” said Lee Lan, who met Karpal a day before his death. Beng Hock, 30-years-old when he died, would have been 35 today. The family, with the help of Karpal and son, have been going to the courts seeking a revision of the open verdict made at the inquest of Beng Hock’s death. Karpal was killed in an early morning road accident on the North-South Expressway on Thursday, April 17, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Penang for a court hearing. The 73-year-old is survived by his wife of over 40 years, Gurmit Kaur, his five children and 11 grandchildren. Lee Lan said Karpal, whose last words to her was that there was a good chance the courts could re-open investigations into her brother’s mysterious death, was always like a father-figure. Her brother, who was beside her, agreed that Karpal was a great man. “He was very warm. Like a father to us… yes, I think he is now with my brother in heaven,” she said with a smile.