Friday, October 23, 2009

Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand: Teoh Beng Hock case 80% homicide

This revelation is from one international forensic pathologist expert.
If we can bring more experts then more bizarre things will be exposed!

In case you didn't know, MACC's famous style of torture is by turning
off the lights so that you can't see or identify the culprits who beat
you. And they use things like wood to beat in order to mask or hide
any obvious external injuries.

Few important observation here in this report:

a) Attack to HEAD SKULL (signs of the culprit's impatience)
b) Attack to ANUS (torture to extract confession).
c) The attacker body size is probably bigger than Teoh's.
d) In order words - its too much force or excessive torture .....




Ref: The Star

Pornthip: Several of Teoh’s injuries appeared inconsistent with fall

By WANI MUTHIAH

SHAH ALAM: Renowned Thai forensic pathologist Dr Pornthip
Rojanasunand told the inquest into the death of political aide Teoh
Beng Hock that it was an 80% probability his death was a homicide.

She said it was only a 20% probability that Teoh had committed
suicide.

Dr Pornthip also testified that the marks on Teoh’s neck looked
like he had been manually strangled.


The Selangor government had invited Dr Pornthip, the
director-general of Thailand’s Ministry of Justices Central
Institute of Forensic Science, to give her expert opinion.

She is well-known for her prowess in cracking open complicated
homicide cases.

She is the author of Investigation of Corpses, which sold 100,000
copies in Thailand, and also led a group of international forensic
scientists in 2004 to identify the remains of the Asian tsunami
victims.

Her life and work was narrated in the National Geographic
documentary Crime Scene Bangkok in 2004.

Questioned by Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, counsel holding a watching brief
for the Selangor government, Dr Pornthip said that several of
Teoh’s injuries appeared to be inconsistent with a fall from
height and appeared to be pre-fall injuries.

(Dr Pornthip had been provided postmortem reports prepared by Dr
Khairul Aznam Ibrahim from the Klang Tengku Rahimah Ampuan and
Universiti Malaya Medical Centre’s Dr Prashant Samberkar as well
as pictures of Teoh’s injuries.)

Referring to an anal tear Teoh suffered as a “penetrative
injury”, Dr Pornthip said she had never seen this type of injury
in cases of a fall.

If the injury had indeed been caused by a bone protrusion, she said
it would have come from the inside of Teoh’s anus.

She said the abrasions on Teoh’s right upper thigh looked like he
had been beaten with a piece of wood.

She added that there was a need to cut open the skin to check for
internal bleeding to determine whether Teoh had been tortured.

(Both the pathologists who had conducted the postmortem on Teoh had
not done so.)

Dr Pornthip also said Teoh’s skull fracture was not typical of a
transferred injury due to a fall but was more compatible with a
blunt force being directly inflicted to the head.

She said the transferred injury to the skull due to the impact of
the fall would typically cause a ring fracture at the base of the
skull around the spinal column and not a cervical spine fracture as
suffered by Teoh.

Dr Pornthip said Teoh, 30, was probably alive when he hit the
ground but might have been unconscious before the fall.

She said this was because there was no reaction wounds on his ankles
and wrists to show he had instinctively tried to stop himself from
hitting the ground.

She said it was possible he was unconscious from manual
strangulation or pain from the anal region.

She estimated his time of death to have occurred between 6am and 8am
on July 16.

Teoh, the political secretary to Selangor executive councillor Ean
Yong Hian Wah, had been summoned to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission (MACC) office at the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam to be
questioned over the irregular disbursement of state funds on July
15.

He was found dead on the fifth floor service corridor of the
building the following day.

Meanwhile, the Selangor government called on the authorities to
study the expert opinion of Dr Pornthip on Teoh’s death.

“Her evidence has indeed proven that the state’s fear on the
safety of government officials during interrogation by the MACC is
not totally unfounded,” Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said
in a statement yesterday.

Given her experience, he said Dr Pornthip’s evidence could not be
taken lightly.

He reiterated his government’s call for a Royal Commission of
Inquiry into Teoh’s death instead of just looking into the
interrogation methods used on him by the MACC.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Asia Sentinel: Malaysia's Port Storm

A must-read article.... which main stream media should have put into front headlines.
Did MACC go to investigate aggressively and snatched PC or laptops like they did to Pakatan Rakyat?

Reference: Asia Sentinel

Monday, 24 August 2009

Malaysia's Port Storm

Written by Our Correspondent

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission dances gingerly around a huge
scandal

Malaysia's Anti-Corruption Commission has been tireless in the pursuit
of wrongdoers, particularly those from the opposit

ion Pakatan Rakyat
coalition that controls Selangor, Malaysia's richest state. But
somehow – perhaps just an oversight – the MACC has been dawdling for
five years on a case that appears to be one of the biggest scandals
ever to hit a country that has generated some spectacular ones.

That is the RM7.45 billion (US$2.12 billion) cost to turn Port Klang,
the seaport 70 km. west of the capital of Kuala Lumpur, into a
national transshipment hub to rival the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai.
Its directors say it is likely to default on billions of ringgit in
loans, with the possibility, according to an auditor's report, that
accumulated interest could drive the cost to a whopping RM12.45
billion.

Conceived in 1999, the Port Klang Free Zone was yet another massive
development scheme put forward by former Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad although he had left office before the real carnival began.
The project appears to have ignited a virtual feeding frenzy for
politicians from the Barisan Nasional, or ruling national coalition.

The port development was awarded as a turnkey project without
competitive bid to well-connected political cronies of the United
Malays National Organisation and the Malaysian Chinese Association,
the two biggest components of the Barisan Nasional. Project outlays,
originally projected at RM1.95 billion, ballooned to RM3.52 billion,
with interest accounting for another RM3.9 billion by 2012. The
parties to the contract have fallen on each other, describing illicit
payments and filing lawsuits. The squabble appears set to wreck what
is left of the MCA, already in disastrous shape after the electoral
drubbing it took in March 2008 elections.

The case stands in vivid contrast to the MACC's zeal in prosecuting
opposition politicians from the Selangor state government. As many as
six or seven have had their office records dealing with constituency
expenditures taken away for investigation. The most publicized of
those was State Executive Councilor Ean Yong Hian Wah, whose aide,
Teoh Beng Kock, died on July 16, either by suicide or other means,
after undergoing a marathon questioning session in the MACC offices
over RM2,400 worth of flags the lawmaker handed out to his
constituents during a Merdeka (Freedom) Day celebration.

An anonymous letter written on MACC stationery was released to the
press last week, accusing Hishamuddin Hashim, an MACC deputy director
for Selangor state, of conspiring with Mohammad Khir Toyo, a leading
United Malays National Organization politician and former chief
minister in Selangor state, to start corruption probes into opposition
politicians. Khir Toyo has denied the charge. Opposition Democratic
Action Party officials have been accused of fabricating the letter.
Its origin is currently under investigation by police.

Certainly, there appears to be plenty about the Port Klang development
for the MACC to investigate. The project is mired in controversy and
name-calling, with Tiong King Sing, the head of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd,
the company given the turnkey contract to build the massive facility,
saying he had paid RM10 million in three installments to Ong Tee Keat,
the head of the MCA, "for activities related to the MCA. Tiong is a
leader of the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party and head of the
influential Backbenchers Club in the Dewan Dakyat, or parliament. Ong,
also the transport minister, is offering to sue Tiong for his
assertion that he had channeled money to Ong. Other MCA stalwarts are
seeking to oust Ong from his leadership position, further fracturing
the party.

Kuala Dimensi in turn is wholly owned by Wijaya Baru Sdn Bhd, which is
the main contractor to Kuala Dimensi. Wijaya Baru is controlled by
Wijaya Baru Holdings Sdn. Bhd. Azim Mohd Zabidi, the former UMNO
treasurer, is chairman of Wijaya Baru Global Bhd. Chor Chee Heung,
former deputy was former deputy home minister under Mahathir, who was
home minister and fiance minister at the time. Chor was the Wijaya
Baru Global non-executive deputy chairman from April 2004 till July
2007.

"This Port Klang FreeTrade zone is a colossal mess, with billions upon
billions gone missing. It was earmarked for the MCA and the Chinese
community," said a lawyer with links to the United Malays National
Organization. "Many MCA/Chinese contractors benefitted from the deal.
It has been an issue for the last six years, but only now has it
become explosive."

Opposition member Ronnie Liu, a DAP official, lodged a police report
with the MACC on the scandal as early as 2004. The DAP has lodged a
series of other reports in the intervening years, said a spokesman for
the Pakatan Rakyat, the opposition coalition headed by Anwar Ibrahim.
None of the requests, the spokesman said, elicited any response from
the authorities. Recently Ahmad Said Hamdan, the chief commissioner
for MACC, declined to answer questions in a parliamentary accounts
selective committee hearing into the Port Klang scandal, saying the
case is still under investigation.

The story was broken wide open, however, with the recent publication
of a 51-page confidential report into the port's finances by the
international accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The report,
dated Feb. 3, was "not intended for general circulation or
publication. It must not be reproduced, republished, copied,
distributed, excerpted, disclosed, quoted, alluded or referred to,
whether in whole or in part, to any other party in any way without
prior written consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Sdn
Bhd (PwCAS)." However, selected parts were indeed excerpted,
disclosed, quoted, alluded or referred to by the opposition, and since
been given wide distribution.

Among other things, according to the report, which was obtained by
Asia Sentinel, "…significant project costs, weak governance and weak
project management have severely undermined the viability of the
project. It is imperative that (the Port Klang authority) take
immediate actions to restructure the (ministry of finance) soft loan
of RM4.632 billion to avoid a potential default in 2012. The
Government of Malaysia would need to make a concerted effort to turn
the Port Klang Free Zone into a viable venture."

The report names a veritable rogue's gallery of MCA and other
officials involved in the development of the project including two
former transport ministers, Ling Liong Sik, the former MCA head, and
Chan Kong Choy; three former Port Authority chairmen, the former UMNO
treasurer Azim Mohd Zabidi, the first woman general manager of the
authority, O.C.Phang and the project executor, Tiong King Sing.

In addition to awarding the contract to Kuala Dimensi without
competitive bid, the land purchase was never vetted by the Malaysian
cabinet, although it cost RM1.088 billion against a market value of
the land of only RM442 million. Kuala Dimensi "may have overcharged
PKA for interest by between RM51 million and RM309 million in
connection with the purchase of the land," the report said.

According to another report, The 1,000 acres for the port were
purchased by the government from Kuala Dimensi at RM 25 per square
foot, or RM 1.8 billion inclusive of interest, giving Kuala Dimensi a
capital gain of RM 993 million because it in turn had purchased the
land from the Pulau Lumut Development Cooperative for only RM 95
million -- RM 3 per square foot. An UMNO assemblyman, Abdul Rahman
Palil, was both the Pulau Lumut Development Co-operative chairman and
a port director in 2002 when the land for the free zone was sold to
the port authority. The then-transport minister rejected an assertion
by the Malaysian Attorney General that the land could be acquired for
"public purpose" under the Land Acquisition Act at RM 10 per square
foot.

As a result, the report said, interest on a soft loan from the
Ministry of Finance "will increase the project outlay from RM4.947
billion to RM7.453 billion. Unless the MOF soft loan is restructured,
total outlay for the project will increase to RM12.453 billion.

And, five years into the project, it remains only 14 percent occupied
and "revenue generated is inadequate to cover its operating expenses."
The zone is expected to be in cash deficit from 2012.

The MACC said recently that it had formed a 30- member panel to
investigate further.

The MACC Lying Bunch of Liars: Anuar, Ashraf, Najeib and More to come

Another cut and paste of important news reports you should not have missed.

Sooner or later these MACC bunch of liars will meet their fate of doom.......
It can be seen they are nervous when being questioned to the specifics..
especially Mohd Anuar Ismail.

This Mohd Anuar Ismail and Hishamuddin Hashim are two monkeys which
will lead to the bigger "money keys" above them.

Note: The MACC Torturing by slapping one's face or hitting the soles of
one's feet is too FAMOUS already. I have friends whose hearing has been
seriously impaired because of the slapping. Hitting the soles has also
caused a serious walking or standing imbalance for the rest of one's life.

Reference: http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=37495

Teoh Beng Hock inquest: MACC officer accused of torturing witnesses, suspects

by Tan Yi Liang

Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus
SHAH ALAM (Aug 28, 2009): The inquest into the death of Teoh Beng Hock got heated up today when a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Selangor branch officer was accused of torturing witnesses and suspects.

The allegation by Gobind Singh Deo, the lawyer for Teoh's family, was however denied by the officer, Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus, the inquest's 19th witness.

He also denied allegations by Gobind that he was being investigated over a police report that torture was used to extract statements at the Selangor MACC office.

Gobind then produced a police report which accused Ashraf of torturing a witness during an interrogation, saying that the witness would be brought to court to testify.

"This report details how the torture is done, how they physically and psychologically break you down, and when we bring this witness to testify, he will identify these officers and how it is done," said Gobind, who presented a copy of the report to Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas. The complainant was not named.

At this point, the counsel assisting the government, Tan Hock Chuan asked for Azmil to advise Ashraf of his rights in light of the evidence within the statement.

Tan said Gobind has the right to pursue this line, although it does not relate to this case, but that to be fair to the witness, he should be told that he can refuse to answer any question that incriminates himself, and it is his right to appoint a lawyer before Gobind pursues this line of questioning further.

Azmil, who then advised Ashraf of his right to decline questions and to seek counsel before answering questions on the report, then asked Gobind to outline the gist of the reports.

"I have a police report detailing how the witness was tortured by MACC officials on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam. Among the allegations were that officers took turns to slap the witness, blindfolding them, wrapping an iron bar to hit the stomach and buttocks, stripping, whipping of the genitals and soles of feet, and other abuse to the genitals," said Gobind.

He said there were more than one police report but no action was taken as "the police also feared the MACC".

This was objected to by MACC counsel Abdul Razak Musa, who questioned the relevance of the report to the inquest.

"This diverts the focus of the inquest, and there is no evidence to prove the claims," said Abdul Razak, who was countered by Selangor government counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, who said the two coroners, Dr Khairul Ibrahim and Dr Prashant Samberkar, had not ruled out the possibility that Teoh was tortured prior to his death.

"This report proves that torture does happen and testing this report will prove that the last three witnesses are lying," added Malik.

Azmil allowed the request, but directed that Gobind stick to one report to keep the focus on the inquest.

"A lot of possibilities were raised by Dr Khairul in his testimony, but possibilities remain. We need to keep the scope narrow, and if the allegations are the same, we can stick to one report. If you want to test that theory, we can restrict it to one report," said Azmil.

Reference: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/28753

Torture allegations levelled at MACC

2009-08-28 20:37

SHAH ALAM, Aug 28 — The inquest into Teoh Beng Hock’s death heated up today with allegations of torture by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against “victims” who have subsequently lodged police reports on the alleged physical and psychological abuses at its Plaza Masalam office.

Gobind Singh Deo, who is acting on behalf of Teoh’s family, said one of the complainants will be testifying at the inquest to dispute denials by MACC officers that no oppression takes place while they interview witnesses and suspects.

The lawyer made the revelations while cross-examining MACC officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus and sought the courts permission to read one of the police reports to him.

Coroner, Azmil Muntapha Abas was told the police report detailed torture which a victim was subjected to while detained by the MACC, on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam.

The political secretary of DAP’s Ean Yong Hian Wah was questioned at the same MACC office before he was found dead at a landing on the 5th floor of Plaza Masalam, on July 16.

Among the abuses in the police report include being stripped naked, blindfolded, and being kicked in the stomach by MACC officers, who took turns to slap him.

“They also hit him with an iron rod wrapped in newspapers besides canning him on his private parts and on the soles of his feet.”

Gobind said he had pictures of the injuries suffered by the victim and had interviewed him personally.

Lead lawyer for the Attorney-General’s (AG) chambers Tan Hock Chuan said he had no objections to the questions but said the magistrate ought to advise the witness on his rights against self-incrimination or saying anything that could implicate him in a criminal offence.

Both Tan and Azmil were given copies of the police report. However Gobind refused to hand a copy over to MACC legal director Datuk Abdul Razak Musa, citing concerns for the victim who lodged the report.

“To be fair, the witness was not one of the MACC officers mentioned in the police report.” said Tan but added the witness should still be given an opportunity to be advised by his own lawyer while the rights against self incrimination should be explained to him.

Meanwhile Abdul Razak argued that the court should not take into account the police report because “it’s not relevant to this case.”

He pointed out that a pathologist who testified earlier had said Teoh was not assaulted.

He added “Even if it happened….” but sat down before completing his sentence.

However lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, who is acting for the state government, told the court the pathologist did not discount the possibility that Teoh may have suffered pre-fall injuries. Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus in the waiting room, before his testimony.

All MACC officers, who have testified so far, claimed suspects are not subjected to abuse, and it was important for this fact to be tested, Malik said.

Azmil said he would allow Gobind to used the police reports as a basis in his line of questioning of Mohd Ashraf.

He also explained what self incrimination meant to the 25-year-old MACC officer and informed him that he had a right not to answer the question.

Mohd Ashraf, who worked in a factory before joining the MACC in 2005, said he understood.

However the court was adjourned today before any further question was put to him, and will resume on September 8.

After today’s proceedings were adjourned, Gobind explained that as an officer of the court, he was duty bound to inform the coroner on what basis he was cross-examining witnesses on.

He said this was why he informed the court about the allegations in the police report against the MACC.

“The MACC claims there is no abuse of suspects, we will show otherwise and will do it by way of evidence.”

He added the police reports lodged against the MACC had never been investigated by the police and they too need to explain why.

He said this will be raised not only during the inquest but later at the Royal Commission, which was announced to probe if Teoh’s human rights were violated while questioned by the MACC. (By Neville Spykerman/The Malaysian Insider)

Reference: http://www.mmail.com.my/content/11636-macc-no-procedure-grilling-witnesses

MACC: No procedure for grilling witnesses

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 07:26:00

THERE is no standard operating procedure for the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) for its investigations or interrogation of witnesses.

MACC deputy superintendent Mohd Anuar Ismail, who said this at the inquest into the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Huat, added that all MACC actions must be within the ambit of the MACC Act 2009.

Asked by coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas if there were any procedures applied by the MACC during the custody period or if there was any standing order or internal practice directive, Anuar said they would inform the senior officers and wait for instructions.

Asked by Gobind Singh Deo whether, as the investigating officer, he was responsible for the witness, Anuar said "yes" and that his role was to ensure that witnesses did not face any problems in MACC .

Gobind: How did you ascertain this?

Anuar: Through my officers.

Gobind: But isn’t it not important for you to ask the witness?

Anuar: As an investigating officer, there is no need to ask all witnesses and accused.

Gobind: I f witnesses want to complain and you have this attitude, how are they supposed to complain?

Anuar: I do not know.

Gobind: As an investigating officer, you must be fair to both the accused and the prosecution. If your officer
had used force on witnesses, do you honestly believe that they will tell you about it? Think about it.

Anuar: No.

Anuar also said Teoh did not speak to him when he asked Teoh in MACC recording officer Mohd Nadzri Ibrahim’s room around 2am on July 16 if everything was all right. He did not ask Teoh anything further.

Gobind: How can it not cross your mind that something may have been wrong with Teoh? How can you go back to sleep? Are you not bothered about Teoh?

Anuar: I disagree.

The witness also told the court that as the investigating officer, he did not telephone the police upon receiving news that Teoh’s body was found on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam about 2pm on July 16.

Anuar said he referred the matter to the head of the investigations unit, Hishamuddin Hashim, who instructed him to go to Putrajaya.

Gobind: My God! You all go throughout the whole country while there is a dead body there. What is wrong? Why did you all go to Putrajaya?

Anuar: To get clear instructions.

Gobind: Why only three hours later did the police arrive at the scene? Why did you not tell the police, he (Teoh) was in your custody?

Anuar: The witness had been released.

Gobind: Stop messing around! Don’t play games here! Why did you not lodge a police report immediately?

Anuar: The situation was chaotic at that time because a body had been spotted.

Gobind: Yes, you panicked. But you should not panic if no wrong had been done. Anuar, who had earlier told the inquest that he practised as a lawyer before joining MACC, said he did not not know the law on the
finding of a dead body.

“Forget the law," said Gobind. "As a decent human being, when you find a person dead, will you not call the family or the lawyer of this person?"

Anuar grinned and said he would do so if the dead person was his friend. He later admitted that he did not
lodge a police report as his boss had not instructed him to do so. He did so only the day after the body
was found, when Hishamuddin instructed him make the police report.

Gobind: If you were instructed not to make a report, you would not do so?

Anuar: "I would not make one."

Gobind: But what about the body in the meantime? Leave the dead body there for one week? Is this how the MACC operates?

Anuar: We need to receive instructions first, to know what to do.

Gobind: But why wait for one day? Is this reasonable?

Anuar: To me, it is not reasonable. I waited because I was waiting for instructions on the actual procedure.

Gobind: Did it not hit your conscience that your main witness is dead, and you go into your office
and do nothing?

Anuar: Yes, it did.

Gobind: “You were hiding something, right? This is why you did not lodge a police report so the entire crime scene would be tampered with, because you people killed Teoh Beng Hock!"

MACC counsel Datuk Abdul Razak Musa objected to the question but Gobind said it was a question the witness could choose to agree or disagree with.

The inquest continues.

Reference: http://www.mmail.com.my/content/11873-teoh-beng-hock-inquest-‘i-have-no-reason-lie’

THE TEOH BENG HOCK INQUEST: ‘I have no reason to lie’

MACC officer not sure if he punched out, not sure who was with Teoh at that time

Pearl Lee

Friday, August 28th, 2009 06:57:00

A MALAYSIAN Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer was accused of lying and covering things up during the Teoh Beng Hock death inquest hearing in Shah Alam yesterday.

Najeib

Mohd Najeib Ahmad Walad, 29, the third MACC witness, said he was not sure if he punched out on July 16 when leaving the MACC office at Plaza Masalam around 2.30am, after smoking, eating and going to the men's room.

He said he left with two officers he identified only as Ridhuan and Hassan. Najeib said he last saw Teoh about
10pm on July 16, sitting on a sofa in the guest area with two officers.

"But I can't remember who they were as I was merely passing by," Najeib said to a question from counsel Gobind Singh Deo, who is holding a watching brief for Teoh's family.

Gobind: What was Teoh doing?

Najeib: He was sitting, I guess, as I did not see him standing. I am not sure if he was lying down or sitting.

Gobind: Can you remember now what he was doing?

Najeib: He was sitting.

Gobind:This is a court. Don't play around! What was his position?

Najeib: He was sitting.

Gobind: Who was there with him?

Najeib: I'm not sure.

Gobind: Did you punch out when you left?

Najeib:I am not sure how I left.

This is because besides punching out' we can also use the intercom to leave.

Gobind: How did you leave then?

Najeib: I'm not sure.

Asked by Gobind to describe the condition at MACC at night, Najeib said it was peaceful.

Gobind: There was no shouting and yelling at each other? Did you see anyone quarrelling when you went to the toilet?

Najeib: I did not hear anything.

Gobind: You were there (in the toilet), and if there was anyone quarrelling, you would know right?

Najeib: If there was I would run. His answer drew laughter from the public gallery.

Gobind asked Najieb if he had run that night, and the witness said no.

On Tuesday, MAAC deputy superintendent Mohd Anuar Ismail told the inquest thay he was told by an officer called Bulkini that he (Bulkini) had seen Teoh quarrelling with DAP Kajang municipal councillor Tan Boon Wah at 2am on July 16.

Gobind: How did you know you left the office at 2.30am?

Najeib: I merely estimated the time.

Gobind: How did you make that estimation?

Najeib: Because my friends suggested we leave about 2.15am.

Najeib said that there was a clock at the punch card machine that showed 2.30am and he may have seen the time there.

The lawyer lost his cool and suggested that Najeib was lying his way through the proceeding.

"You are lying, Ini semua satu penipuan (This is all a lie). All the answers are either tak pasti (not sure) when he says it's ‘pasti' (sure), he can't answer the question. You are covering up. That night Teoh Beng Hock was whacked and that is why all your testimony is inconsistent," Gobind said..

"No!" Najeib replied.

Questioned by government appointed lawyer Tan Hock Chuan, Najeib said he was part of a team that had gone to the Selangor State Secretariat building on the afternoon of July 15 to get documents on State allocations for the Seri Kembangan constituency.

The team was led by Mohd Anuar Ismail, the investigating officer in Teoh's case.

He said after checks were done on Teoh's laptop and desktop, he had found four invoices in the laptop and four letters on donations from the Seri Kembangan constituency.

"Teoh later insisted he wanted the laptop and the CPU (central processing unit) to be with him and he also insisted (after being told to go to the MACC building) that he wanted to drive there himself."

Najeib, who had followed Teoh in his car, said Teoh appeared restless as he drove to Plaza Masalam.

He also said that Anuar instructed him to print copies of the documents. Najeib said he had to ask Teoh for the passwords to access the laptop and desktop.

He also said that he did not jot down the password for the laptop but remembered the password for Teoh's desktop, which was ‘SUK 2009'.

Gobind: Because you did not jot down the password, you can't verify that the documents came from the laptop, can you?

Najeib: No.

The witness also said that he did not know whether MACC officers used force on suspects that were called in.
Asked by MACC lawyer Datuk Abdul Razak Musa whether he had reason to lie, Najeib answered:"No."

Razak: On the night of July 16, did you see anyone being interrogated loudly, the way Gobind questioned
you?

Najeib: No.

Reference: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/28635

MACC officer admits top officials gave orders

2009-08-25 18:46

SHAH ALAM: Anti-graft investigator Mohd Anuar Ismail told the coroner’s court Tuesday that top Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officials had ordered him to step up investigations into allegations that Selangor assemblymen misused public funds.

He named the senior officials as Selangor MACC deputy director Hishamuddin Hashim and investigations unit chief Hairul Ilham Hamzah.

One of them was named in a mystery letter alleging political collusion in investigating the Pakatan Rakyat state government.

Mohd Anuar, 32, is the 16th witness in the inquest into political aide Teoh Beng Hock's death on July 16 at the MACC office in Plaza Masalam here.

Previously a lawyer, he had gone through six months of training at a police college in Kuala Kubu Baru before joining the MACC.

Teoh was earlier interrogated for nearly 10 hours before he was found dead the morning he was to register his marriage to his two-month pregnant fiancee.

The MACC investigator also admitted to Teoh family lawyer Gobind Singh Deo that it was unusual to question people into the wee hours of the morning.

He also told the court that he did not check if Teoh's lawyer M. Manoharan had turned up to be present during the interrogation. Gobind claimed Manoharan had waited an hour at the MACC office.

Gobind: Why did you need to question the witness at night?

Mohd Anuar: That's normal practice.

Gobind: Don't be silly. If I asked you to climb a tree, will you do it? I'm asking you why?

Mohd Anuar: To hasten the investigation.

Gobind: Why?

Mohd Anuar: [after hesitating] Because the issue had become sensitive.

Gobind: What issue?

Mohd Anuar: The issue on the allocation of state assemblymen. Because the newspapers were publishing it every day.

The MACC man's reply drew a snide remark from Gobind before he continued his heated interrogation of the witness.

Gobind: You were directed to bring them in and get confessions from them?

Mohd Anuar: No.

Gobind: Please! You're on oath here.

Mohd Anuar: [hesitates] Ya.

Gobind: Who directed you?

Mohd Anuar: There were two people.

Gobind: Who are they?

Mohd Anuar: The deputy director Tuan Hishamuddin Hashim and Tuan Hairul Ilham.

Gobind: Who is he?

Mohd Anuar: Head of investigations unit.

Gobind seemed satisfied that he succeeded in extracting some names from Mohd Anuar, but couldn't seem to stop from pointing out that the MACC investigator who had been asked to step up the investigations had been “sleeping all night”, causing the public gallery to erupt into chuckles -- even drawing a smile on the magistrate's face — and a faint protest from the witness.

MACC legal affairs director Datuk Abdul Razak Musa objected to Gobind's line of questioning and later called the inquest a “kangaroo court”.

Coroner magistrate Azmil Munthapa Abas asked Gobind to “soften” his manner of questioning the witness. (By Debra Chong/The Malaysian Insider)

Reference: http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=37342

IO ordered to pressure Beng Hock into spilling the beans

Tan Yi Liang

SHAH ALAM (Aug 25, 2009) : Senior Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers ordered an investigating officer to detain political aide Teoh Beng Hock and three other witnesses for questioning overnight to pressure them to spill the beans over alleged misappropriation of allocation for a state assemblyman, the inquest into Teoh's death was told today.

MACC investigating officer Mohd Anuar Ismail said this was done because the investigation into the case had to be "sped up" as the issue of the alleged misuse of public funds had become "sensitive" as it was all over the newspapers.

Under intense questioning from Teoh's family counsel Gobind Singh Deo, Anuar admitted he had held Teoh and three other witnesses over the night of July 15 as the Selangor MACC deputy director Hishamuddin Hashim and the head of investigations Hairul Ilham had directed him to extract information from the witnesses.

He said Teoh was questioned by two officers from 6pm until 3 to 3.45am the next day, and described the extended detention as "normal".

He said he was not aware that Teoh's lawyer M. Manoharan had been waiting to see Teoh for more than an hour, although he had agreed to allow the lawyer to be present during the questioning. He said he however had not checked if Manoharan was there, as Teoh was just a witness and had not been arrested.

Gobind Singh: "Isn't it oppressive for an individual to be interrogated late into the night?

"It may tire the witness," said Anuar, who admitted there were was no standard operating procedure for interrogating witnesses, except the procedures under the Anti-Corruption Act and several other laws.

Gobind Singh

On another matter raised by Gobind, Anuar admitted he did not make a police report immediately after seeing Teoh's body at the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam at 2pm on July 16 as he was directed by Hishamuddin to go to Putrajaya to seek instruction from MACC headquarters.

"There was panic upon seeing a body there. I informed Hishamuddin about the matter and sought further instruction," said Anuar.

This response shocked Gobind, who asked Anuar whether he cared about the fate of his "star witness".

Anuar replied that he would have made a report if he was "instructed to do so".

Gobind then suggested that Anuar was "actually hiding something". "That's why you were afraid to lodge a police report at that time, so that you could conceal the evidence at the scene because it was actually the MACC officers who killed Teoh," he said.

Anuar denied this, along with an allegation that the MACC routinely questioned witnesses at night to hide any evidence of torture as the surrounding offices were closed.

Mohd Anuar Ismail

Anuar said when he went to check on the recording of Teoh's statement at 2am by a junior MACC officer, Mohd Nadzri Ibrahim, Teoh appeared uncomfortable, as if he was holding something back.

"I suspected that something was amiss, but decided not to ask Teoh what was troubling him in front of the recording officer," said Anuar, who said he went back to sleep.

Gobind then accused Anuar of lying to the court when he testified yesterday that Teoh was not oppressed during the questioning, since he was sleeping.

When Gobind suggested that Anuar did not know whether Teoh was oppressed, Anuar nodded.

Under questioning by MACC counsel Datuk Abdul Razak Musa, Anuar said the MACC had seized boxes of documents from contractors linked to Teoh's boss executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah regarding the misappropriation, and testified that Teoh had seemed "nervous" when his laptop and desktop were seized at his office at the Selangor State Secretariat building. He said four pages of documents printed from the laptop were used in the questioning of Teoh.

The inquest continues tomorrow.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Teoh Beng Hock Mystery: Mystery Letter Exposed

I have suspected Khir Toyo has something to do with this for quite
some time! This mystery letter has confirmed it all.

I was also wondering if the man who captured Elizabeth Wong private obscene
photo was actually hiding inside Khir Toyo's bungalow? Telco people could
easily check this out!!. It seems things are pointing to Khir Toyo - remember
the Balkis scandal which was exposed just after Pakatan Rakyat took over Selangor.

Reference:

MalaysaToday: The shit has hit the fan

Politicsinmy Blog

We will cut and paste whatever from above here so that you will get an all-in-one info at one place here.

RE: BRIBERY, MISCONDUCT AND CORRUPTION OF A SENIOR OFFICER OF MACC SELANGOR

With due respect, we would like to refer to the above subject-matter.

Please be informed that we, officers of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), feel obliged to expose the misconduct and bribery of a senior officer of MACC, DEPUTY DIRECTOR (DD) MACC Selangor known as PKPj I HISHAMUDDIN BIN HASHIM, in connection with the case of TEOH BENG HOCK and another case involving the bungalow of DATO' SERI DR MOHAMAD KHIR BIN TOYO in Section 7, Shah Alam, Selangor.

2. For the kind information of YBhg Tan Sri/Dato/Tuan/Puan, the DD was directly involved in the investigations on the fraud case of the Selangor State Government's funds allocation for YB Ean (ADUN Seri Kembangan). His involvement was not just on official orders, but he has also been given instructions to his subordinates to find, with any means possible, any evidence of wrongdoing by the Selangor State Government. He acted in this manner as he had made a conspiracy with Khir Toyo to topple the state government of Selangor. As a consequence of his greed, it had resulted in the death of TEOH BENG HOCK. There arise a few suspicious questions for us, officers of the MACC Malaysia, regarding how Teoh Beng Hock could have died. We suspect of the DD's involvement in the death of Teoh Beng Hock as based on the following allegations:

DD had ordered all MACC officers involved in the operation that he was not directly involved in the case. In fact, he was the one who gave all the orders in this operation and other operations of MACC Selangor. In fact, he was afraid to be involved directly because this could expose his conspiracy with Khir Toyo.

The chemists have discovered fingerprints and male DNA on the front side of both sides of Teoh Beng Hock's belt. Based on the knowledge of our officers of MACC Malaysia, DD has an individual style of interrogation techniques which include interrogating a suspect by holding the front of his belt, lifting him a few times while shaking him.

The process of collecting DNA from Selangor MACC officers was performed in 2 sessions. In the first session of collecting DNA, DD made every effort to evade from giving his DNA sample. The DD was said to have given his DNA sample in the second session, but suspicions arise because DD gave his DNA sample in the privacy of his own office while all other MACC officers including the MACC Director have given their DNA samples in a meeting room in the presence of many other individuals. Why did the DD give his DNA sample in a secretive manner? Was the DNA provided really his DNA? We, the officers of the MACC Malaysia, felt puzzled that there was no one else in the presence of the DD when he allegedly gave his DNA sample? We recommend that the DNA Test on the DD must be done again, witnessed by a group of people who can be trusted.

We have been informed that the DD had ordered his subordinates to erase/clean the fingerprints on the window that Teoh was believed to have fallen from. This proved so when the police could not find any signs of fingerprints, new or old, on the window. The question is, why did the DD order that to be done?

We suspect, based on information we have obtained, that the DD did not clock out with his punch-card when he left the office on 16th of July 2009, at 6:10 am. This is important because it can prove that the DD was the last person to see Teoh. The question is why he did not clock out with his punch-card as he is a person who always punches his card. For record, he is very diligent with his punch-card.

3. For the information of YBhg Tan Sir/Dato/Tuan/Puan, the DD in question is very influential in the enforcement of investigation operations around Selangor and the rest of Malaysia. In MACC Selangor, he is the most important person who decides whether a case should be prosecuted even if the power should rest in the hands of the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP). His decision is prompted by his personal interests and those of his co-conspirators. So, it is no surprise that he led the MACC Selangor Investigative Unit for decades, at least since the Selangor state government was under the helm of the Barisan Nasional government (Khir Toyo) until now. He was promoted ahead of schedule, from Grade 41 to Grade 54, within a period of 16 years without transfer to other positions or locations other than that of the MACC Selangor. Based on the terms of employment of MACC, any officer who has been promoted or who has worked for more than 5 years in a State should be transferred to a different location to avoid the officer being involved in local bribery. One of the reasons he was never transferred is because he was tasked to "take care of" the position of Dato' Seri Dr Khir Toyo in Selangor. As a result, Khir Toyo also "took care of" his position in Selangor as a reciprocal favour.

4. As a result of his position in MACC Selangor for these many years, he has been involved in various cases of bribery and misuse of power. Some of the incidents of bribery or misuse of power that we have investigated are as follows:

Closing the case of Khir Toyo connected to the approval of a road construction project, in Sekinchan measuring 20.5 km valued at RM 92.5 million to a contractor that was nearly blacklisted, Meram Holdings. According to the JKR's estimates, the road should have cost less than RM 50 million. The subcontractor that did the work on the project was Cabaran Wangsa, owned by Pua Kim An, the landlord of a house that had once been rented by Khir, while another company director, Ahmad Tarmizi Tajjeury is Khir crony that was also given 100 acres of land at a profit to him of at least RM 20 million.

Possess assets that exceed his emoluments such as:

He has been caught in close proximity with a subordinate officer, Investigator rank, named Nor Azlina bt Mustafa at the side of the Shah Alam Lake in early year 2009 by 2 police officers. He showed his identification card (MACC) and informed the police officers that he and the officer were in the course of an operation and they were released. These "intimacies" between him and the Investigator were repeated and are a common knowledge of many including his own wife. The only action taken by the Department was to transfer the officer involved to the MACC Headquarters in Putrajaya. This was ineffective because Azlina is still always with the DD at the Selangor office.

5. The objective of this letter is to uphold justice and prevent the further abuse of power especially in the MACC and throughout Malaysia. We in the MACC, are fed up to see his antics which have the blessings of the powers that be, like the sayings "beraja di mata, bersultan di hati". We in the MACC have lost all means to find departments/institutions/NGOs that can champion this issue so the appropriate action can be taken.

6. We, the officers of the MACC, would be touched and thankful that YBhg Dato'/tuan/puan could expose this issue to the people and the authorities so that an organisation/NGO can take the appropriate action, or an independent investigation, can be taken and raised to the Cabinet. This is very important because it involves the integrity of a serving officer of a department that upholds the laws involving human integrity. The DD is now making every effort to press his subordinates to find any faults involving ruling PKR with the hope that the PKR-led government will fall in Selangor and his secret will be safe. For your information, the DD is now very afraid whenever news about Dato' Seri Khir Toyo is released in the press and he would be very afraid if the case would expose his involvement.

7. We hope that any brave individuals or organizations can spread this information so that our actions can be brought to the attention of the responsible and trusted authorities and that justice can be done. We are unable to do it ourselves because he has "cable" with the higher authority.

8. Cooperation from YBhg Tan Sri/Dato'/tuan/puan is much appreciated and we hope that through your action, much more information can be brought to light involving individuals with no integrity. We hope that this will cleanse the MACC and its officers from further involvement in bribery and corruption.

Thank You.

"To serve for the beloved MACC/ Country"

We are by order of,

PEGAWAI-PEGAWAI SPRM MALAYSIA

KEGIATAN RASUAH, SALAHLAKU DAN PENYELEWENGAN PEGAWAI ATASAN SPRM SELANGOR

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Kim Quek: A Royal Commission of Deception

The following is a good commentary and observation by Kim Quek.

Notice the characters and the subjects:

a) Character of Police - slow in action and suppressing vital info
b) Character of MACC - secretive and trying to avoid responsibility
c) Teoh Beng Hock's Mobile Phone - remained 'invisible' until day 4
d) Room at 14th floor - Details remain undisclosed
e) CCTV records - was taken only on day 4

Article taken from: http://en.suarakeadilan.com/top-story-1/2009/07/12359

A Royal Commission of Deception

Friday, 24 July 2009

By Kim Quek

Prime Minister Najib Razak has finally announced the setting up of a
Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to assuage the nation’s anger
over the tragic death of Teoh Beng Hock in the hands of the
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

But what a let down, and what a deception!

Instead of probing the death of Teoh, the Commission is asked to
look into the interrogation methods of the MACC.

The absurdity of this move is akin to a school boy caned to death in
a school, and the public inquiry is over the disciplinary procedure
of the school, not over how and why the boy met his death.

The injustice that befell Teoh Beng Hock – a clear victim of
political persecution – has infuriated the nation to boiling
point, and yet Najib thinks that an RCI looking into MACC’s
methodology would be sufficient to douse the anger and restore
confidence in his leadership.

What does he take Malaysians for? A bunch of dimwits?

Oh ya, I know what they will say, concurrent with this RCI is an
inquest where a magistrate would look into the cause of death. But
any one familiar with legal practice can tell you that comparing an
inquest to a RCI is like a child vs an adult.

An RCI is commissioned by the King, and it is usually made up of
senior members of society with distinguished records of competence
and integrity, and having wide power to summon for witnesses and
evidence, and reporting to the King; whereas an inquest is manned by
a junior legal officer whose source of evidence is limited to
feedings from the authorities (mainly police) with no power to call
for witnesses and other evidences, and forwarding the findings to
the attorney general.

Since an RCI is going to be set up in response to public demand to
uncover the truth pertaining to Teoh’s death, why create another
junior body to take away the principal task – finding out how and
why Teoh died – leaving RCI to do a side show?

Besides, without allowing RCI to probe into the death, how could it
fathom what has gone wrong with the operations of MACC’s? In fact
these two tasks are integral and inseparable.

Only when the full circumstances surrounding the death are
ascertained, can the defects of the system be defined and
recommendations made.

Umno’s intentional hide-and-seek

hideandseek1This is plain common sense, and I can’t imagine a man
of Najib’s intelligence cannot comprehend it. That leaves us with
no alternative but to conclude that the UMNO leadership is playing a
game of hide and seek with the public with respect to this tragedy.

Najib said “the government will do whatever that is necessary to
find the truth” and Inspector General Musa Hassan has repeatedly
warned the public not to speculate and hurl accusations but to trust
the police to carry out a “transparent and professional”
investigation, but what has transpired is contrary to these
assertions.

The police investigations in particular have been shockingly
questionable and unprofessional.

It should be plain from day 1 of the discovery of the body (July 16
) that Teoh died while under custody and he fell from the window of
the MACC’s 14 floor office.

That he was never released was verified by his personal articles
including his hand phone which were still being kept by MACC when
the body was found and the fact that he could not have walked off
the office on his own as implied by MACC as he did not have the
electronic card to open the door.

That he fell through the office window was evidenced from the 14th
floor window latch which was found next to Teoh’s body.

Questions Galore

Then why didn’t the police seal the office, seize all
relevant documents including notes of interrogation, dust for finger
prints particularly those at the window on the very first day (July
16), as death by foul means clearly could not be excluded.

Despite evidence of Teoh’s fall from the building while under
custody, why did Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar say that he
did not suspect foul play and classified the case as “sudden
death” – even before autopsy was performed? Didn’t this
presumption betray patronization of a fellow law-enforcing agency?

Why did the police forensics personnel visited the crime scene only
on Day 4 (July 19) to take evidence, removing articles such as
documents, CCTV records, window latch etc, knowing that vital clues
could have been erased, tampered with or removed in the intervening
3 days? Didn’t this reflect a lack of seriousness?

Why did the police deny repeatedly to assemblyman Ronnie Liu until
day 4 that it had Teoh’s hand phone, when in fact the phone has
been in its possession since day 1? What was the police secretly
keeping the phone for so many days for?

The body was discovered at 1:30 pm and Teoh’s boss assemblyman Ean
Yong Hian Wah arrived at the MACC office at 5 pm asking to see Teoh,
but the personnel therein including Selangor police chief Khalid Abu
Bakar did not entertain Ean Yong for more than an hour.

Why keep the news from Ean Yong for so long? Why wasn’t Teoh’s
family informed in the first instant? Was this long duration of
silence a needed interval to complete certain preparatory work
before the bad news was announced to the world? Shouldn’t such
improper conduct give rise to suspicious imputations?

The autopsy was completed on day 2 (July 17), why is the police
still keeping the findings under lid?

As for MACC, questions galore that suggest criminal liability over
Teoh’s death in the backdrop of a political conspiracy to sabotage
the Selangor Pakatan state government with corruption prosecutions.
Examples of these are:

1. Why did director of investigations Shukri Abdul lie that Teoh was
released at 3:45 am and that he had no idea how Teoh’s body landed
on the fifth floor balcony, when in fact Teoh was never released and
he fell off a window in the office? Was there a necessity to lie if
there was no criminal liability on the part of MACC?

2. Why was Teoh tortured in a marathon interrogation that stretched
into the early hours of morning when he was not a criminal suspect
but only a witness assisting in an investigation over a hearsay
allegation of misappropriation of a paltry RM 2,400 by his boss Ean
Yong?

Ean Yong was among a group of seven Pakatan assemblymen selected for
investigation for unspecified suspicion of miss-using their annual
allocations of half a million ringgit each. In contrast, Pakatan
complaints against BN assemblymen for having dubiously spent their
entire annual allocations within the short period of two months
shortly before the last election in Mar 8, 08 have been met with
silence for more than a year.

3. Why have Pakatan leaders been systematically hounded over dubious
petty allegations while MACC routinely playing deaf and dumb over
multi-million and even multi-billion scandals of corruption and
abuse of power by Barisan Nasional leaders?

Why keep silent over the RM 12.5 billion PKFZ scandal despite having
received numerous reports of complaints from Pakatan since 2004?

Why took no notice over the recently exposed mansion of former
Selangor Menteri Besar Khir Toyo reputedly worth RM 24 million which
was well beyond his accumulated official income?

Why took no action on Khir for the numerous reports of corruption
and abuse of power uncovered by the Pakatan state government since
the last election?

It is as clear as day light that MACC exists not to wipe out
corruption, but to wipe out Pakatan Rakyat – not only in Selangor
but all over the country.

It is in the realization of this despicable role played by MACC,
that the tragic death of an upright and dedicated young man – who
was due to get married on the day his life was so cruelly snuffed
out – has caused the tolerance of the nation to touch its breaking
point.

Let us resolve that the fascist power be not tolerated henceforth.
Let us all stand up for justice for Teoh Beng Hock.

.

[Kim Quek aka Yong Thye Chong is a well-respected political
commentator and author]

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Teoh Beng Hock mystery notes

The death of Teoh Beng Hock has become a mystery
waiting to be solved magically by power of the internet.

We are seeing very little information being slowly released
to the public which is suggesting as if a 'grand conspiracy'
is in progress.

a) The Police being too slow and unprofessional (Getting CCTV, Teoh's mobile phone and checking staircase)
b) MACC remained secretive (refuse office access and publishing details. Most loud PR was 3am discharge time!)
c) Official Sudden Death Plunge theory being mostly propagated (and some warning against speculation/opinion)
d) Death Details (Blurred/Small Photo) coverup (lacking details as if to hide something)
e) Broken Belt (unknown DNA?) and Stains (Rust or Blood) at staircase known for too late (weeks later)
f) No reason given for Teoh's torn trousers (No one suggesting it could be purposely being torn by someone)
g) The broken window latch analysis was missing (could be a planted evidence by somebody)
h) The Blue Marks on Teoh's stomach info was not highlighted or made into media headlines!
i) Teoh's missing wristwatch and marks on his palm.
j) Teoh's new shoes / soles condition (This is an MACC favourite torture technique - knock the soles of your feet)

Lets read a quote from Malaysia Mirror on 21st July 2009:

Well-placed sources and officials close to the MACC said Teoh was "manhandled and threatened" by investigators during a 10-hour interrogation as part of a political conspiracy to bring down opposition leaders, led by Anwar Ibrahim, and to implicate them for alleged misuse of funds.

"When he refused to do so, the officers dragged him to a window on the 14-story building and threatened to throw him out," the said the source who was not authorized to speak to media.

Out of many reports out there perhaps the biggest clue is
the MACC refusal to grant access to all rooms on the
15th floor!

[Latest Mystery Edit: 7th August 2009]

The Staircase Stain Clue?

As reported by MalaysiaKini on 7th August 2009, under the title
"TBH inquest: Blood on stairwell?"

“We were walking up the staircase to the 15th floor through the backdoor. When we reached the 15th floor, we found a two-feet long stain on the floor of the staircase,” a lawyer for the Teoh family Lim Lip Eng told reporters on Friday.

“We asked the director of Selangor MACC what was the stain but he didn’t know. The police investigating officer said he would inspect the substance.”

Lip Eng was part of the entourage of lawyers, court officials and police that accompanied coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas to Plaza Masalam, where the office of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is.

The group was originally slated to visit just the 14th floor office and the 5th floor corridor where Beng Hock’s body had been found after a marathon interrogation by MACC officers.

But the lawyers also asked to see the 15th floor, where there were more interrogation rooms. Although they were not allowed to enter, they spotted similar looking stains on a wall in one of these.

Photo: Seriously Lacking in Details

For example, only one photo (Edit: Some days later, Kosmo published a closeup photo showing Teoh's torn pants but blurred) at the scene (with lacking details
of course!) was shown to the public. Why show only one photo
and why there was no close-up photo? It is simply because
they don't want to lead you to the 'ultimate information'!!!
Otherwise the police will state 95% instead of only 60% of
total investigation!

The following are some interesting findings/theories from
the net:

1. The picture didn't show any obvious pool of blood
and didn't specify reasons for such despite claiming
Teoh died because of the plunge.

2. Reports didn't mention which part of Teoh's body hit the
ground first.

3. Reports didn't say which parts suffered the most impact.
Reports should state the percentage of damage on all parts
of his body and details like which parts produced the most
blood vessels leakage.

4. There was no picture or description from which room and
which window Teoh was said to be falling from. The people was
just told it was from the 14th floor.

Ref: Merdeka Review

Malah, seandainya Teoh jatuh dari tingkap tingkat ke-14, bahagian pejabat tersebut perlu dikenalpasti. Sama ada tempat di mana Teoh jatuh itu merupakan ruang tamu, pantri, bilik soal siasat, bilik mesyuarat dan sebagainya, adalah petunjuk penting dalam siasatan.

5. If Teoh was merely a witness as said by MACC, then MACC
has already 'tortured' Teoh mentally and physically by detaining
him (and his mobile phone) up to 3am on that day.

(Note: United Nations Report classified depriving sleep as a kind
of popular interrogation torture)

Ref : United Nations, Economic and Social Council, Commission on
Human Rights (42d Session), P. Kooikmans (Special Rapporteur), Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, February 19, 1986, 28-29.

6. There was no report on what food or drinks that Teoh has
consumed on that day. CIA or KGB are well known to deprive
their victims of solid foods during interrogation or giving special
doses of interrrogation drugs systematically or hiddenly.

Refer: Essential Forensic Biology By Alan Gunn

7. There seems to be a systematic and massive mainstream
media propaganda against Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government
with Star newspaper printing a BIG cover headlines 'Shah Alam Raid'
on 16th July 2009.

Please note that Teoh was found dead on that same day, 16th July 2009 and Khir Toyo bungalow case issue was exposed about 2 weeks before that (7th July 2009)

See: MalaysiaKini Khir Toyo's Bungalow:

8. It was said that the building has security doors but until now
there is no report on whose card has been used to open the
door of the 14th floor or what has caused the door to be opened.
Besides this, there is also no report on what type of electronic
security door system that MACC is using.

9. The report didn't mention the physical journey and history of
Teoh's mobile phone. It also didn't state if Teoh did make any call
or contact after 3am. For a typical busy person like Teoh, it is natural
that he would have made some phone calls or checking SMS upon
release. The Telco providers can actually check whether his phone
was turned on/off or was sending/receiving SMS in the telco server log.
From this server log we can know when Teo has been released.

From : Merdeka Review

Dakwaan pihak SPRM bahawa Teoh Beng Hock telah dibebaskan pada jam 3.45pagi, 16 Julai, dan Teoh meminta untuk tidur di pejabat mencungkil keraguan, antaranya:-

Sekira-nya Teoh telah di- bebaskan, mengapa dompet, telefon bimbit dan dokumen penting yang lain masih berada di tangan SPRM?

Mengapa polis mengambil telefon bimbit Teoh dari pihak SPRM pada hari keesokan tragedi berlaku, dan bukannya pada hari kejadian berlaku?

Mayat Teoh ditemui pada jam 1.30 tengah hari, 16 Julai. Pegawai SPRM dikatakan telah mengenalpasti identiti Teoh pada ketika itu, namun mengapa polis gagal mengesahkannya, sehingga jam 5 petang?

10. MACC has been known to have prepared a written confessions
and then tortured their victim until he or she finally gave up and
signed the confessions. This is not a hearsay - we have friends with
proofs of such kind of torture.

11. There is a possibility that Teoh was punched/kicked somewhere
near the stomach and the genitals until he is lifeless. (This cause an
internal bleeding (haemorrhage) and sudden death - that's why no large pool of blood
can be seen around his body).

[Edit 31st July 2009 : He was beaten as the blue marks were found on
his stomach as reported in the press. ]

[Edit 7th August 2009: Media reported Mystery DNA on Teoh's belt. ]

The police can use DNA tracing on Teoh's clothes to identify those
who had made contact with him but so far we didn't get any info
on this.

Just for the record - the police didn't wear any special clothing
(like the Angkasawan thing) when they were around Teoh's dead body.
This is really bad for CSI.

Refer: Essential Forensic Biology By Alan Gunn

12. It might be true that he was already dead before being thrown
out of the window. Then the body position may have been adjusted
so that it is lying sideways in order to prevent zooming digital cameras
to detect some other important clues.

From what common sense can 'see' - Teoh's body may not have been thrown out
from the 14th floor and it seems he was already losing some blood (internally
or externally) before being put (but the too clever media reported as plunged)
on the 5th floor. By telling everyone Teoh fell from 14th floor it will hide
the possibility that he could have been killed somewhere on the 15th floor
and then was carried via backdoor staircase to the 5th floor.

Fake Evidence Possibility:
It is unfortunate that there is no focus on fake evidence possibility.. ie
someone could have purposely broke the window latch or handle and place it
near Teoh's body. Or those torn trousers could also be another fake evidence
trying to make it appears that it was caused by the latch. It could be that
Teoh was killed somewhere else (not at 14th floor) but it is really bad that
14th floor was exaggerated. There is a possibility that 15th floor could be
the culprit because MACC is very secretive on this floor.

The police should have sealed the MACC office (and stairways too) on 14th
and 15th floor from day one of the incident but this didn't seem to happen at all!

REFERENCE

In the Conclusion section of the book "Janus-faced justice - Political
Criminals in Imperial Japan" by Richard H. Mitchell, it was written:

... For beatings when they wished to leave no marks, interrogators used
rubber truncheons and small sandbags. Other techniques were blows to the
solar plexus or a hard kick to the genitals.... (page 171)

"A 1986 United Nations report on torture presents the following list of methods
of physical torture, which is not considered exhaustive: beating, burning,
extracting (teeth,nails, etc), suspending, suffocating, exposing to excessive
light or noise, denying sleep or food, assaulting sexually, administering drugs,
and electric shocks. " (page 173)

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

When Governments step up blogger arrests...

It is a sign that your message has hit the target.
Not just any target - but the target where it hurts
the most. You message has made a tremendous
impact.

This is an important information revolution concept.

An analogy of this is the 'art' and 'strategy' in the game
of wrestling. You need to find the weakest part of your
opponent. Sometimes you need to pretend as being
too tired or nearly losing in order to fool your opponent....

ESTABLISHING A CONNECTION

In other words it is a blogger's tactical journey to achieve his
ultimate goals. A blogger purposely publishes certain articles
to lead his audience somewhere. Some could be plain explicit
while some could be too implicit but very effective and deadly.
In the end the audience is 'electronically' connected with
maximum 'data transfer' and minimum packet loss......

IT IS ALL ABOUT CONNECTION

It is an art of making a connection and shaping the information
to build or destroy something...... and this is all done using
a programmed flow or exposure of information. The intended
recipients will react to such information and this will spark
a chain of reactions.

THE CHAINS OF REACTION

This stage is very important because it is a movement
of information.

When something moves a lot of things can happen.
A movement of information will create a force and a momentum
that will change the society.

All great revolutions in this world begins with a messenger,
a message, and a guided movement of such message.

"If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've
got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot."
- Confucius

When a government arrests bloggers we know that the
government is already too weak. It is interesting to note
here that many governments were brought down after
such political arrests. It may happen sooner or later - but
the falling process has begun...........

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Take that: Internet key to Obama victories and Beyond Blogging

'Yes We Can'

You might have probably heard this 'magic phrase' many times
during the Obama campaign. It can bee seen that Obama is
using some crucial and important elements in his campaign:

1. A Belief that you can
2. Love to contribute and achieve the goals
3. Internet as the key transport mechanism
4. The spirit of togetherness

Love is probably the greatest thing in this life. Love can unite and energize people.

And when this love comes with Belief - the movement will be unstoppable....

Love and belief will bring people together irrespective of differences like race, skin color or status.

This is because love and belief will lead to support and sacrifice.

Look around and you will see a lot of things are moving in this (love and belief) direction.

Obama is receiving some 'magical' contributions nationwide - and some are very

imaginative that it will indirectly hit the intended target groups spontaneously........

For example, the 'Obama Girl' Youtube is a product of such elements.

Read the following two articles carefully - You will notice something:
- It is the Magical Power of Internet

a) Main site as a center for knowledge, activities, programs, mobilization and reference.
b) How blogs managed to engage (two way communication, as it happens event/issues)
c) Social Media to organise and network (expand) further.

Reference: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7412045.stm

Internet key to Obama victories

By Steve Schifferes
BBC News

Barack Obama in Des Moines, Iowa - 20/5/2008

From early on, Mr Obama adopted the internet to reach his supporters

With Barack Obama moving close to victory in the Democratic presidential primary campaign, the internet has proved one of the key tools to his success. And it may well give the Democrats a big advantage during the Presidential race itself .

The internet has been moving to the mainstream of political life in the US for some years.

But in this presidential cycle it has been particularly important for the Obama campaign, which was starting from scratch with few resources and little name recognition.

The internet favours the outsider, and gives them the ability to quickly mobilise supporters and money online.

And the more nimble use of the internet by the Obama campaign in its early stages helped him overcome the huge initial lead of Hillary Clinton in the presidential nominating race.

Ready to go

Mr Obama's internet strategy was at the heart of his plan to win the Democratic nomination, according to expert Phil Noble, who tracks trends in relation to the internet and politics.

When Senator Obama announced his campaign, his internet site was already fully developed and ready to go - with a set of tools which allowed supporters to meet and organise as well as contribute money.

According to Michael Turk, the e-campaign director for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign, the Democrats had learned the lessons of 2004 very well in an "arms race" between rival teams of developers.

John Kerry depended on online fundraising in the 2004 campaign

Mr Noble says he expects Mr Obama to raise $1 billion online during the 2008 campaign, 12 times as much as John Kerry raised through online fundraising in 2004.

And he says that two million Obama activists have already been mobilised to become volunteer workers for the campaign - a key advance in the "ground war" of getting out the vote.

And some key internet stunts - including the independently developed "Obama girl" mock ad on YouTube - helped increase Mr Obama's public profile early on.

Primary advantage

Both the fundraising and the mobilising potential of the internet proved key advantages for Mr Obama during the primary season.

Hillary Clinton in Louisville, Kentucky - 20/5/2008

Senator Clinton took more time to see the full potential of the internet

He was able to get more local volunteers on the ground in key states earlier than the Clinton campaign, which was especially important in smaller states and caucus states.

And his early success soon generated a wave of small-size campaign contributions that have continued to roll in.

This gave him a crucial advantage in campaign organisation and advertising over the Clinton campaign, which had raised a large sum of money, mainly from larger donors.

Funding shortages forced Mrs Clinton to dip into her own pockets, and limited the number of states she could campaign in.

New tools

One of the unique features of the Obama campaign has been its ability to embrace social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

Mr McCain has invested less in internet tools despite being an early pioneer

Indeed Mr Obama's decision to run was influenced by the fact that a page created on MySpace by supporters not connected to any official campaign quickly signed up 160,000 supporters.

According Paul Zube and Rebecca Hayes of Michigan State University, Mr Obama is far more popular on Facebook - the social networking site most widely used by college students - than any other candidate.

And joining Mr Obama's Facebook site - unlike responding to an email message of support - is a public expression of support which can have a broader political impact.

As such, it may be a more powerful mobilising tool to gain new supporters than sending out emails or expecting activists to come to your website.

Youth vote

His use of social networking sites has helped Mr Obama to mobilise young people, a group which has traditionally been uninterested in politics, according to Professor Thomas Patterson of Harvard University.

"Since the start of this campaign in early 2007, I think what we've seen is a second source of energy for young voters and that's the Obama campaign. They were attracted to him in the first instance by his early opposition to the war in Iraq. At the same time, he happened to have the kind of personality, the kind of message that appealed to them," he says.

Mr Obama has consistently performed extremely strong among younger and highly educated voters, whose increased turnout could be critical to the general election.

Lessons of recent history

In some ways, Mr Obama has drawn the lessons of the failed Howard Dean campaign in the 2004 primaries.

Mr Dean was the first Democratic presidential candidate to use the internet - through his Blog for America - to mobilise his supporters.

But he failed to connect with the voting public in Iowa and crashed out of the race.

Mr Obama has therefore also drawn lessons from the very successful Republican internet campaign that helped re-elect President Bush in 2004

As Michael Turk, the Bush-Cheney e-campaign director in 2004 explained, the Republicans were able to mobilise their supporters through a combination of email lists and internet 'data mining'.

They identified potential Republican supporters in every precinct around the country, using technology which predicts voter preferences on the basis of commercial data on car ownership, magazine subscriptions, and the like.

And then they sent their campaign volunteers detailed instructions on who to visit, including local maps of the area and walking routes, and issues that each potential voter was likely to be most concerned about.

Mr Obama has been utilising similar data to target primary voters - where turnout is crucial - through both telephone banks of volunteers and personal contacts.

Looking forward

Mr Noble believes that the Democrats will continue to enjoy an enormous advantage over their opponents in the use of the internet for campaigning in this election cycle.

Ironically, the McCain campaign in 2000 - when he unsuccessfully challenged George Bush for the Republican presidential nomination - was an early example of using the internet to raise money online.

But according to Phil Noble, this time round, Republicans are far behind in resources and investment in internet tools, and that Mr McCain is having difficulty appealing to the traditional Republican base.

The most important advantage could be in fundraising.

If Mr Noble's predictions are right, then Mr Obama could have a massive lead in the money needed to carry his message to the American electorate.

Reference: http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/08_22/b4086044617865.htm

The Future of Tech May 22, 2008, 5:00PM EST

Beyond Blogs

Three years ago our cover story showcased the phenomenon. A lot has changed since then

by Stephen Baker and Heather Green

In the frantic news biz, where stories go stale overnight, one of our old articles is behaving very strangely. Year after year it continues to draw swarms of online readers, more than holding its own against up-to-date fare. Oddly, while technology races ahead, our story remains frozen in time. It describes a world in which YouTube (GOOG) has yet to emerge from the garage and Twittering, today's microblogging rage, is left to the birds.

The year was 2005, and the story was "Blogs Will Change Your Business." It marked our plunge into the world of bottom-up media, of news as a "conversation." Many people at the time—including a good number at this magazine and throughout the business world—considered blogs to be a publishing tool for trivia, banality, venom, and baseless attacks. This was all true, the article conceded.

But in the helter-skelter of the blogosphere, we wrote, something important was taking place: In the 10 minutes it took to set up a blogging account, anyone with an Internet connection could become a global publisher. Some could become stars and gain power. That was already happening. In this new world, any business that hoped to "control" information—and that included just about everybody—was in for a wild ride. This promised a seismic shock in our own media world. No mystery there. But it also posed challenges for businesses in practically every realm. Every e-mail or memo could be blogged. Every employee, no matter what rank, could become a voice for the company, either publicly or cloaked, some gaining more power than the entire public relations department. "Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out," we warned, adding: "Catch up...or catch you later."

Following our own advice, we ended the story by linking to our new blog, Blogspotting.net. The conversation continued on the blog, as it does to this day. Who cared that the magazine piece grew a bit musty? Canaries don't read the yellowing articles lining their cages.

SERIOUS GOOGLE JUICE

Turned out it wasn't quite that simple. The magazine article, archived on our Web site, kept attracting readers and blog links. A few professors worked it into their curricula, sending class after class of students to the story. With all this activity, the piece gained high-octane Google juice. Type in "blogs business" on the search engine, and our story comes up first among the results, as of this writing. Hundreds of thousands of people are still searching "blogs business" because they're eager to learn the latest news about an industry that's changing at warp speed. Their attention maintains our outdated relic at the top of the list. It's self-perpetuating: They want new, we give them old.

What to do? Update the old beast, naturally. Early this year, we put out questions on Blogspotting. What needed fixing? Responses streamed in. We called the old sources and contacted some new ones. We annotated the original article, bolstering the online version with dozens of notes and clarifications. That approach works for the Net, with its pop-up windows and limitless space. But for the more cramped confines of the paper magazine, we have to cut to the chase.

So here goes. Three years ago, we wrote a big story—but missed a bigger one. We focused on blogs as a new form of printing press, one that turned Gutenberg's economics on its head, making everyone a potential publisher. This captured our attention, not least because this publishing revolution was already starting to rattle the skyscrapers in our media-heavy, Manhattan neighborhood. But despite the importance of blogs, only a minority of us participates. Chances are, you don't. According to a recent study from Forrester Research (FORR), only a quarter of the U.S. adult online population even bothers to read a blog once a month.

But blogs, it turns out, are just one of the do-it-yourself tools to emerge on the Internet. Vast social networks such as Facebook and MySpace offer people new ways to meet and exchange information. Sites like LinkedIn help millions forge important work relationships and alliances. New applications pop up every week. While only a small slice of the population wants to blog, a far larger swath of humanity is eager to make friends and contacts, to exchange pictures and music, to share activities and ideas.

These social connectors are changing the dynamics of companies around the world. Millions of us are now hanging out on the Internet with customers, befriending rivals, clicking through pictures of our boss at a barbecue, or seeing what she read at the beach. It's as if the walls around our companies are vanishing and old org charts are lying on their sides.

This can be disturbing for top management, who are losing control, at least in the traditional sense. Workers can fritter away hours on YouTube. They can use social networks to pillory a colleague or leak secrets. That's the downside, and companies that don't adapt are sure to get lots of it.

But there's an upside to the loss of control. Ambitious workers use these tools to land new deals and to assemble global teams for collaborative projects. The potential for both better and worse is huge, and it's growing—and since 2005 the technologies involved extend far beyond blogs. So our first fix is to lose "blogs" from our headline. The revised title: "Social Media Will Change Your Business."

Even when researching a story like this, it's easy to fall into old patterns. Let's see, we thought as we started out: Which top executives are embracing social media? Sun Microsystems (JAVA) chief executive officer Jonathan I. Schwartz is a blogger. What's he up to? IBM (IBM) set up its own social network for employees, Beehive. It has 30,000 employees on it. We should definitely give them a call.

But hold on. If we're writing about new networks that extend beyond companies and break down their walls, and if these technologies are often beyond the control of executives, what are we doing calling the bosses? Like many others in business, we have developed top-down reflexes that are nearly Pavlovian. We have to deprogram ourselves.

So. How to get in touch with the grass roots? We try Twitter, the microblogging sensation. People use it to send tiny haiku-like messages (140 characters maximum) to everyone who chooses to receive their feeds. The two of us each has a few hundred people following our posts, either on the Twitter page, sites like Facebook, or (for a few fanatics) the cell phone. Who are these people? Well, they're just that, people. They're not organized by industry or rank. They're screen names, just like us (stevebaker and heatherlgreen). An estimated 1 million folks are on the Twitter service now. It's a small number, but it includes lots of influential voices, especially in tech. Some follow friends to learn what they had for breakfast or what they saw at the Vatican Museum. But they also may see what technologies their competitors are putting into alpha tests and get the buzz on new rounds of financing. Work and leisure, colleague and rival; they all blend on these networks.

THE 140-CHARACTER RESUME

We send out a few posts on Twitter (they're called "tweets") asking people how social media are changing their work. Scores of responses pour in. People learn what colleagues are up to, inside and outside the company. They see trends. They make contacts. They learn. Some even sell. A Dell (DELL) employee who goes by the Twitter name of Ggroovin tells us that Dell's service on Twitter has brought in half a million dollars of new orders in the past year. Some on Twitter sniff around for the next job. "The new résumé is 140 characters," tweets 23-year-old Amanda Mooney, who just landed a job in PR.

Still, we have to talk with a few corporate honchos. How are they dealing with this outbreak of communication tools? J.P. Rangaswami is a good person to start with. He runs technology at BT (BT), the British telecom giant, and is famous for an approach that blends inside and outside networks. We leave a message with the press department. A day passes. We wonder if we should try another number before it strikes us how silly we've been. We can go straight to the person! That's what social media lets you do. We leave a comment on Rangaswami's blog, ConfusedofCalcutta, and promptly get a reply. He's flying to San Francisco, but he leaves his Facebook and Twitter contacts, along with a cell phone number.

Hours later, Rangaswami describes the changes since the 2005 article. Then, he says, there were either traditional communications or weird stuff with funny names, like blogs and wikis. People at BT now embrace a full range of online tools, and they use them more and more, especially as young workers join the company. "The new people come infected with the new world," he says.

More than 16,000 BT employees work together on wikis, using the same technology as Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that lets anyone post or edit entries. But instead of teaming up to edit an online encyclopedia, employees gather on them to write software, map cell-phone base stations, launch branding campaigns.Nearly every new project hatches a wiki. This is especially valuable in a global economy, where engineers in Asia can pick up a project as Europeans go to bed. The new groups that evolve on these wikis raze traditional hierarchies: An intern can amend the work of a senior engineer. Meanwhile, some 10,500 employees at BT ( that Rangaswami knows of) are already on Facebook. BT is also offering an internal social network. But just like Facebook and Twitter, it won't work unless it attracts a crowd. Rangaswami can't force anyone to use it. It would be fruitless to try. To hear Rangaswami describe it, all his team can do is provide tools and watch.

There's a lot to look at. "We've spent years talking about the value of the water-cooler conversations," he says. "Now we have the ability to actually understand what these relationships are, how information and decision-making migrate. We see how people really work." Why does this matter? The company can spot teams that form organically, and then can place them on targeted projects. It can pinpoint the people who transmit ideas. These folks are golden. "A new class of supercommunicators has emerged," he says.

Good networkers have always had their ways to work around the direct reports and dotted lines diagrammed on company charts. They've created informal networks. Now, with social media, they have a fast-expanding set of tools to extend these relationships, and even to change their companies. Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research detail an example from Best Buy (BBY) in their new book about social media, Groundswell. In 2006 two marketing managers at the company worked weekends to create an in-house social network, Blue Shirt Nation. Now it has grown to more than 20,000 participants, 85% of them sales associates. In a company with a 60% annual turnover rate, this group churns at only 8.5%, blogs Gary Koelling, one of the founders. And Blue Shirt Nation gets results. A promotional drive on the site helped persuade 40,000 employees to sign up for 401(k) retirement accounts. This bottom-up approach moves a whole lot faster than initiatives that wind through a corporate approval process. Drawbacks? The new order favors those who network, create buzz, and promote their brand. Managers have to make sure that quieter employees don't lose out.

The change is even more dramatic in media. In the world we envisioned in 2005, the old dogs of mainstream media (like us) would learn the new tricks of blogging and use them to extend our reach and clout. We figured we'd be surrounded by constellations of standalone bloggers, each with his or her own niche.

COMPETITION FROM THE MEGABLOGS

Steve Rubel was our example. The opening spread of our 2005 story featured a full-page photo of Rubel, PR executive and leading blog evangelist. He was stripping off a sweatshirt, Superman-style, in the vastness of Grand Central Terminal. Rubel's job was to help companies communicate in this new world. He extended his brand by blogging. It wasn't a bad gig. He remains a power in blogging, and his stature won him a job directing digital media at PR firm Edelman & Associates from an office with big windows overlooking Times Square.

Sitting there one recent morning, facing a widescreen Mac laptop, Rubel drops a bomb. He doesn't blog much anymore. He lets his popular Micropersuasion site sit fallow for days on end. That would have been sacrilege when we wrote our article. Back then he was posting a dozen times a day—even from bed.

What changed? Two big things, he says: technology and media. In 2005, a smart and hyperactive PR guy with a blog could actually be a leader in tech coverage. Rubel came up with scoops. Since then, megablogs with paid staffs, such as Michael Arrington's TechCrunch and Om Malik's GigaOm, have become titans. And sites like Techmeme and Digg aggregate the hottest news—much of it from the megablogs. These are New Media champions, and they come from outside Old Media ranks. Some of them, it could be argued, wield more power than large metro dailies, or even magazines. Go to the Technorati search engine and see how many blogs link to TechCrunch, the leading source for dealmaking in Silicon Valley. Links are only one measure of influence, but a vital one in the blogosphere. The number is 170,908. That's more than (gulp) BusinessWeek.com.

Fine. TechCrunch and the others get plenty of attention. But what's it worth? Valuation is a hot question in social media. Andrew Baron, the co-founder of Rocketboom, an early video blog, had some fun with it. A few weeks ago, he announced that he was auctioning his Twitter account, which had some 1,300 followers, on eBay (EBAY). Anyone who wanted an instant crowd with some influential followers could bid. (Of course, these followers might not stick around under a new regime. That was part of the risk calculation.) The bidding quickly rose above $500. As the auctioning continued, more people (including us) signed up to follow Baron's account so they could witness this drama in action. That increase in his crowd theoretically raised the value of his Twitter property. In the end, he called it off. As we write, his following has climbed to 2,309.

While we're talking money, let's revisit one of the boldest assertions in the old article. Could a blogging bubble burst? "That's easy," we wrote, answering our own question. "No." The logic was that blogging, a free form of publishing, was anything but a highly capitalized industry. Even blog technology companies such as Six Apart and Technorati were small fry, backed by just a sliver of the venture capital in Silicon Valley. How could an industry built largely on free labor and free software develop a bubble, much less burst? It can't.

But social media sure can. Since our story, major investors and corporations have focused on the profit potential of social sites. Like Baron's Twitter crowd writ large, they promise relationships, millions of them. Such media could be worth a fortune. Strike that: They'd better be. Over the past three years, tech and media companies have been opening up their checkbooks for these properties. Google gobbled up YouTube for $1.65 billion; NewsCorp (NWS) bought MySpace for $588 million; and Microsoft (MSFT) bought a pricey slice of Facebook that put a $15 billion valuation on the company. Venture firms, meanwhile, have been racing to fund socres of social media startups.

For many of them, the business plan remains blurry. Even giants like MySpace are struggling to figure out the financials. And there's no guarantee that Web masses will stay loyal for the long haul. If investors lose faith in these new ventures built on relationships, all hell could break loose. This could convulse Wall Street, deepen the recession, sink pension funds—you name it. But you know what? The next day, we'll be back on the blogs and social networks, checking up on each other, uploading our analyses, and sussing out opportunities in the storm.

Even if the bubble bursts—and we predict it will—the power of social media to transform our businesses and society will only grow.

Links

Two blogging giants, Jeff Jarvis and Arianna Huffington, give their takes on how Old Media is adjusting to the current state of the blogosphere

JEFF JARVIS, BUZZMACHINE
Three years ago, blogs were still a curiosity to a business audience—new enough to warrant a cover story, strange enough to require explaining. Now blogs and social media are not only better understood and accepted, but they are coming to be seen as a necessity in media and, more and more, in business.

Next, I think, BusinessWeek's readers will see that social media are changing their fundamental relationship with customers to be less about serving and more about collaborating. No, I don't mean that every product will be the product of a committee. But customers who want to talk will, and smart companies will not just listen but will engage them in decisions. This will have an impact not just on PR and image but on product design, marketing, sales, customer service—the whole company.

Three years from now, I predict BusinessWeek's cover won't be about blogs or tools but about companies as communities.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, HUFFINGTON POST
The growth of New Media journalism will be a hybrid combining the best aspects of traditional print newspapers with the best of what the Web brings to the table. We're getting a glimpse into this with the many changes afoot at Old Media places like the The New York Times, and from New Media players like, well, like the Huffington Post.

The online vs. print debate is totally obsolete. It's as musty as the old barroom argument about Ginger vs. Mary Ann. It's 2008, why not have a three-way? Traditional media have ADD: They are far too quick to drop a story. Online journalists, meanwhile, tend to have OCD—we chomp down on a story, refusing to move on until we've gotten down to the marrow.

The shifting dynamic between the forces of print and online reminds me of Sarah Connor and the T-101 in The Terminator. At first, the visitor from the future (digital) seemed intent on killing Sarah (print). But as the relationship progressed, the Terminator became Sarah and her son's one hope for salvation. Today, you can almost hear digital media (which for some reason has a thick Austrian accent) saying to print: "Come with me if you want to live!"

Friday, October 23, 2009

Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand: Teoh Beng Hock case 80% homicide

Friday, August 28, 2009

Asia Sentinel: Malaysia's Port Storm

The MACC Lying Bunch of Liars: Anuar, Ashraf, Najeib and More to come

Torture allegations levelled at MACC

MACC: No procedure for grilling witnesses

THE TEOH BENG HOCK INQUEST: ‘I have no reason to lie’

MACC officer admits top officials gave orders

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Teoh Beng Hock Mystery: Mystery Letter Exposed

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Kim Quek: A Royal Commission of Deception

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Teoh Beng Hock mystery notes

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

When Governments step up blogger arrests...

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Take that: Internet key to Obama victories and Beyond Blogging

Internet key to Obama victories

Beyond Blogs

Three years ago our cover story showcased the phenomenon. A lot has changed since then

SERIOUS GOOGLE JUICE

THE 140-CHARACTER RESUME

COMPETITION FROM THE MEGABLOGS

Links

Two blogging giants, Jeff Jarvis and Arianna Huffington, give their takes on how Old Media is adjusting to the current state of the blogosphere

Blog Archive

Next Generation Search News

Links

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