‘Sigh. Up till now, there has not been even a squeak from Pakatan Rakyat that Teoh Beng Hock's tragedy is a racial matter.’

On Umno members gather in support of MACC

GSK: Who is really turning Teoh's death into a racial issue? It is Umno and its goons, not the opposition. All the rakyat want was for the government to set up a royal commission. Nothing more than that and minister Nazri Abdul Aziz reacted with statements laced with racist undertones and this was followed by Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian .

Why has the home minister not used the Sedition Act against the minister and the two Bahasa dailies? If it had been any other newspaper, their licences would have been revoked and their editor told to resign. In this case, the editors of these two dailies seemed proud that they are echoing the thoughts of a pariah minister. It makes the two dailies pariahs too.

Patriot: Sigh. Up till now, there has not been even a squeak from Pakatan Rakyat that Teoh Beng Hock's tragedy is a racial matter. The only parties that mentioned the ‘R’ word are Umno and Umno-owned newspapers - Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian .

JTB: For once I am in full support of Umno’s Ismail Kijo and his gang of Umno boys in supporting MACC to continue the probe on Pakatan Rakyat state assembly members.

I say, Ahmad Kijo, let’s get the boys from Umno to Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam - we are no different, you hate corruption, we also hate corruption. Let’s us unite in the spirit of 1Malaysia and support the investigation of Khir Toyo’s RM3.5 million house, or is it RM24 million? Let’s ask MACC when they will complete the investigation of the Port Klang Free Trade Zone scandal.

We are all “brudder”, Ismail Kijo. With you taking the lead, the police will not come out with their Robocop FRU and their chemical-laced water cannon. PKR, DAP, PAS will join you if you care to take this initiative as a responsible political party with some semblance of common sense, equality, justice and fair play.

If you cannot do that, it’s better for you to go home and eat ‘sambal belachan’.

On Cabinet approves royal commission

Anu: Let’s see who will be appointed in the royal commission. Only then, will we know if it is independent or not. At least half of its members must be from active NGOs. Or else there is no point. The commission shall also be empowered to investigate the reason or causes of Beng Hock’s death.

Let’s see who will be the magistrate to head the Beng Hock inquest. I would suggest to forgo the police probe. The police could not even clear their own backyard - take for example, Kugan’s death in police custody.

And let’s see how soon the above can be delivered. Hope that it will not be until Beng Hock's son has been born.

G-man: I'd say why bother with all this, we all know what happened to the last few royal commissions, notably the one on the police force, and things didn't get better. In fact, it got a lot worse. So why waste taxpayers’ money and commission members’ time to come up with findings, solutions and recommendations that are probably destined to collect dust in some storage location.

LCL: While it is certainly welcomed that a royal commission will be set up to inquire into the sudden death of Teoh Boon Hock, we are doubtful that the government of the day will actually heed any the advice or findings of the said commission.

We have seen the recent complaints against the police royal commission and their proposal to set up the IPCMC. We have also seen the VK Lingam royal commission. Both made very pertinent findings. What has happened? Nothing!

Subsequently, the previous prime minister set up the watered-down complaints procedure against the police and informed the Parliament that “NFA” (no further action) was taken against the culprits in the VK Lingam tape scandal.

So what is the point or purpose in setting up the royal commission? Is this government giving us any assurance that its advice will be followed and its findings taken seriously? If not, please do not waste any more taxpayers’ money.

On Open letter to MACC advisory members

Helen Ang: Although as a columnist I'm aware of Malaysiakini's house-style - which is to omit any honorific, and this an editorial philosophy I personally concur with - nonetheless I feel it somewhat a pity that the titles of the distinguished ladies and gentlemen were left out in the above commentary (whereas the list with their full titles is carried in Dr Lim's think-tank CPI).

Of the 42 individuals in the various committees and advisory panels to the MACC, 10 are Tan Sri, 17 are Datuk and one Tun, Puan Sri and Datin.

If I read the letter writer's thrust correctly, Dr Lim is emphasizing that precisely because the panellists are such eminent people, then all the more reason these members of our social elite should lead by "doing the right thing", i.e. resigning their positions linked to MACC to take collective albeit symbolic responsibilty for Beng Hock's death.

Sarajun Hoda: The MACC like the police has been very clearly, blatantly focused on selective prosecutions. They are painstakingly following exactly the same footsteps of the Malaysian police and judiciary where they spend more time, effort and public resources to satisfy its political masters’s bigoted political interest than serving the nation fairly to a point today, Malaysians generally feel they cannot trust these security agencies anymore.

‘Yang diharapkan pagar, now pagar lah never failingly yang makan padi.’

They are not serving the people anymore. They are purely serving the prime minister who is actually now representing only a minority. First he helped himself into power. Now he is consolidating and amassing more power through the backdoor. They succeeded in Perak, now trying hard in Penang using the Kampung Buah Pala issue and in Selangor using the MACC.

The Beng Hock death and other deaths in police custody only confirm that Malaysians cannot anymore be guaranteed while they are under these agencies’s custody. This means in clear bold words, the BN government has failed the nation and betrayed the people.

It has no excuse but to immediately sack the IGP, the MACC head (including its Selangor chief) and the AG. Anything less, the BN government must resign and call for fresh elections so that the people can re-elect a government of their choice.