A legacy betrayed: The DAP’s silence on the Teoh Beng Hock tragedy

A legacy betrayed: The DAP’s silence on the Teoh Beng Hock tragedy

By Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy
23 hours ago

THE Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement (TBHADA) has called for the resignation of Democratic Action Party (DAP) ministers from the Cabinet, citing their failure to push the government for a comprehensive investigation into the tragic death of Teoh Beng Hock.


This call comes in the wake of a deeply disappointing decision by the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) to mark the case as requiring no further action (NFA).



After years of public agitation and the family’s unwavering fight for justice, this decision has struck like a thunderbolt—a profound betrayal not just to the family but to Malaysians who once believed justice would prevail.


DAP, a party that once relentlessly invoked Teoh’s case in its campaigns, now seems to suffer from political amnesia.

The fiery pledges for justice have all but evaporated. The very leaders who once stood beside the grieving family now appear complicit through silence and inaction.


This glaring about-turn reveals the fundamental transformation—or perhaps degeneration—of the party since assuming power. Once a vocal opposition force promising reform and justice, DAP’s role in government has proven largely cosmetic in this critical matter.

Before taking office, DAP leaders assured Malaysians that they would demand a full reopening of Teoh’s case. That promise now rings hollow.

Despite being the largest party in the Pakatan Harapan-led government, DAP’s influence has failed to bring any meaningful progress.

Worse still, the AGC’s NFA decision exposes a stark hypocrisy and confirms the public’s growing cynicism: that DAP leaders have become more concerned with the trappings of power than the principles they once championed.

(Image: Malay Mail)

Urimai, the Malaysian Rights Party—unjustly denied formal registration—fully endorses TBHADA’s demand. Ministers Anthony Loke, Nga Kor Ming, Hannah Yeoh, and Steven Sim must resign from their posts for failing to uphold justice for Teoh.

[Hannah excused, but include the Lim dad & son]



Their continued presence in government only underlines the party’s moral failure. Teoh’s case has made it painfully clear: DAP leaders, in the comfort of power, have chosen convenience over conscience. The party that once inspired hope has surrendered to the same culture of political expediency it once opposed.

The comparison with the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), long dismissed by DAP as ineffective, is now no longer far-fetched.

While MCA may have its own shortcomings, DAP has failed even in representing a family from the Chinese community wronged by the system.

If DAP cannot act decisively in a case so emblematic of institutional abuse and racial injustice, what moral ground does it have to claim multiracial representation?

DAP’s betrayal of the Teoh family is an unforgivable lapse. The very least the ministers can do is step aside, as former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim once did in protest over unjust detentions under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

If Zaid could relinquish power on principle, why are the DAP ministers clinging to theirs?

Once again, Urimai reiterates its call to the Madani government: reopen the case of Teoh Beng Hock.

Restore the public’s faith. Render justice long overdue. And let those who have failed this cause remove themselves with the dignity they have so far denied others. ‒ May 27, 2025



Former DAP stalwart and Penang chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.

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kt asks you to please peruse following:

KTemoc Komposes

Kuiet Kozy Korner Keeping KTemoc's Kompositions

Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Teoh. Sort by date Show all posts

6/01/2017

Let us not forget Teoh Beng Hock

Alas, someone in the DAP might have forgotten

The evil that was perpetuated on a young man
By a Nazi-like organization that has been rotten
Yet easily forgiven by a political flash in the pan

All for grubby politics, none for integrity nor justice

For a man slain on the very eve of his wedding day

Oh we weep, what treachery to become so solicitous

To abandon principles, an evil crime now is gainsay

DAP leader Lim Kit Siang shook hands with Rohaizad Yaakob, a top Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) official to show the opposition’s solidarity with the MACC 

Yet just a year earlier Kit Siang in his article, titled "Malaysians will not rest until justice is done for the killing of Teoh Beng Hock" said DAP and Pakatan Rakyat would continue to highlight the injustice of Teoh Beng Hock’s unresolved murder

what utter bullshit

But I haven't!

When is the MACC going to hand over to the police the person responsible for the untimely death of Teoh Beng Hock?

8/06/2015

Forgetting Teoh Beng Hock

O so soon you've forgotten me
Hey, my late name was Teoh Beng Hock
Is that even in your memory
Or just a wee footnote in history
My story soon to become mere talk-cock

Those who sinned against me
Cursing my family with veritable untold woes
Making Er Jia a fatherless baby
And those men with no pity
Have become icons by you, your new heroes

Thou faithless headless chooks

Have further insulted my already grieving family
Giving the enemy support but not rebukes
Ever greater pain my family now brooks
All because of your sad self-interest treachery

Bhai once said don't be immoral
In desperately seeking victory without morality
Nor should one be ever unethical
But safeguard and value our principle
To never sacrifice and replace with hypocrisy

YOU UNMITIGATED HYPOCRITICAL BASTARDS!

Read also my KTemoc Komposes posts:

(1) Remembering Teoh Beng Hock

(2) The murder of Teoh Beng Hock

(3) I work for the rights of the dead

And read Malaysiakini:

(1) MACC - from zero to hero in eyes of 'hypocrites'

(2) Opposition visits MACC HQ to show solidarity