Beng Hock

steadyaku47 comment:
Its just past 8a.m....and as I surf news from KL I came acrossd this letter from Nie Ching to Beng Hock in MT...and as I read it my heart understand that for those who are left on this world to mourn those who have left us, there are many days when thoughts of our love ones tugs at our heartstrings. This is one of those days. I felt so confortable calling him Beng Hock...he is now a friend. I have never met him but who says you need to meet someone to know them? My eyes are moist thinking that Beng Hock did not have to die...not if this BN government had mader known to MACC and PDRM  that it will NOT tolerate any abuse of prisoners in their custody! But what does this Najib care? Staying in power is everything to these leaders who have caused so much suffereings to the people in this nation. Beng Hock is but just one! When will it end?


By Nie Ching
Dear Beng Hock,
Time flies! We have not seen each other for 2 years. How have you been during these 700 +days and counting?
Er Jia is already 17 months old. He is just like his peers — vivacious, cheerful, active and adorable. Xin Xin, the daughter of my eldest brother, is just 3 days older than him so I always like to compare them. Xin Xin is chubby just like me when I was her age, while Er Jia is thinner. I sometimes can’t resist asking Cher Wei if she feeds him enough! Come to think of it, perhaps I should have kept quiet. Both of you are on the “lean” side so I suppose Er Jia would take after the both of you.

After spending time with Cher Wei, I can see that you really “fell” for a good woman! She has tremendous inner strength. She is taciturn in front of countless well-wishers, always responding in a calm dignified manner that she is well.

However, I did notice her message on Facebook the other day: “I was taking a ride in my male colleague’s car to work the other day. Midway into the journey, he called home and asked, ‘Have you brought our precious baby home? Is precious asleep now?’ … his child is 18 months old. At that moment, I felt a surge of mixed feelings but the deep pain was unmistakable and unbearable…”

I felt her pain... How could such a great loss and void in her life be erased and forgotten easily?

Your mother-in-law is not doing so well health-wise. She has to go to the hospital almost on a weekly basis. Lee Lan is very worried, always telling me how she wishes you were here so Cher Wei could lean on you in trying times. She is not alone in her thoughts and Cher Wei’s mum probably feels the same way.

As for your sister Lee Lan, she has been running around for the past 2 years on matters pertaining to your case. She keeps taking time off work and finally decided to quit her job. Her boss values her though and has advised her to think of her own future.

I also asked her what would be her ideal occupation and she replied me with an air of innocence - a homemaker! Her reply stunned me! The many years of education provided by your parents might have been flushed down the drain! If not for the fateful event of July 16 from 2 years ago, Lee Lan today might just be another carefree lass who doesn’t read the news or care about what happens in this country. But of course, we can’t keep harping on the “if”s in real life and she grew up overnight 2 years ago.

Your eldest brother is married and he has also become a father. Your parents are so delighted! On the day of marriage, Mandy, Huan Guan and I went to Melaka for the occasion. But our happiness was tainted with a sense of sorrow, seeing as how you cannot be with us on such a momentous day...

Here’s a piece of good news for you! Elections for village heads are finally kicking off in Selangor on July 31, 2011! We used to talk about how to return the Third Vote to the rakyat. Now, although we are still way off target, this is a small breakthrough. If you were still Ean Yong’s secretary, you would be very busy with this election now.

Huan Guan recently moved house but is still unsuccessful in the “marriage department”. You’ve got to help him out! Yoke Kong is still the idealist in DAPSY but his beloved Arsenal is anything but ideal. Dickson proposed successfully in Fandao’s Mr. Fat Café and his wedding is slated for year-end. Victor is now a photographer with a newspaper. There are lots of changes in our lives but the one thing that never changes is that come Chinese New Year, no matter how busy they are, they will visit your parents in Melaka together with me. Beng Hock, they truly are your buddies.

As for myself, what has changed? Upon reflection, I think I have gone “soft”.

A few days ago, DAP organised an experience-sharing session for participants of the Bersih rally. Many “previously-virginal” protestors came and shared their thoughts with great enthusiasm - how they overcome their own fear and the police barricades, dodging teargas, avoiding the water cannons and playing hide-and-seek with the cops.

They were very courageous but I was not. I am a timid person now. Two years ago, I lost my courage to invite friends to participate in rallies. I am scared.

But Beng Hock, if you were still with us, you would definitely be one of the 50,000 who turned up, wouldn’t you? You would be with us together, overcoming our inner fear. I wished so badly that you could be with us that night because like me, you would be exemplified by the heroes and heroines of Bersih such as Auntie Annie, the undergraduates, the ordinary Malaysians, and see a bright future for all Malaysians.

Beng Hock, you would have watched us from afar in the last 2 years. Do you think our beloved country is getting better or more chaotic? Are the people more united or more divided? How much more of this challenging journey will we as a nation have to travel?

I do not know, Beng Hock, just as I do not know if I will ever find out the truth about what happened to you on that fateful 19 July, just as I do not know if justice will eventually prevail. But, what I do know and what the participants of the Bersih rally know, is that we belong to this nation, and this nation belongs to us.

Dear Beng Hock, I hope you can bless and watch over Cher Wei, Er Jia, your parents, Lee Lan, and this country, from where you are now.

From a friend who misses you,

Nie Ching