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Capacity crowd at Beng Hock forum in Penang

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Slideshow photos by an eye-witness at the scene (For best results, view on Firefox browser.)

More pictures at Romerz’s blog here.

A capacity crowd packed the hall at the Teoh Beng Hock memorial forum at the Caring Society Complex in Penang tonight. Hundreds who couldn’t squeeze into the hall, sat in the foyer downstairs while many others spilled onto the corridors outside.

Blog reader Ibrahim reports on the turnout:

To give you an idea of the numbers who turned up on the rainy evening, carpark spaces were all taken up by 7.40pm. By 8.05pm, there were standing room only in the hall, with all seats taken. By 8.15pm, some were seated on the floor in front. By 8.30pm, the hallways outside were filled up. By 9.00pm, the stairs leading to the exit as well as the foyer of the building were full. We, the folks inside, could hear stadium-like cheers from the outside when Guan Eng walked in. I would put the numbers at over 4,000.

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Beng Hock forum in Penang

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Update: D S Gill sends his apologies for being unable to provide live coverage as he can’t get an internet connection at the Caring Society Complex in Penang.

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Selangor MACC: 106 new staff approved in Jan 2009

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This information on the Selangor MACC from the MACC website may be interesting. It states that 106 new staff were approved on 1 January 2009 for deployment from 2009 to 2013.

Last November, the then ACA (now MACC) director-general Ahmad Said Hamdan said the agency would be getting 5,000 new staff by 2012.

The MACC website also states that the director of Selangor MACC is P/TPj Ja’afar Bin Mahad, who took office only a month ago on 18 June 2009. He previously helmed the body for nine months in 2008.

Recent directors served very brief terms compared to their earlier predecessors:

11. PKPj I Hjh Azni Binti Hamzah 01.01.1999 – 31.01.2005 (7 years)
12. PKPj I Shaharuddin Bin Khalid 01.11.2006 – 31.12.2006 (2 months)
13. PKPj I Mohd Jamidan Bin Abdullah 01.01.2007 – 30.09.2007 (9 months)
14. PKPj I Ja’afar Bin Mahad 01.01.2008 – 05.10.2008 (9 months)
15. P/TPj Moh Samsudin Bin Yusof 06.10.2008 – 17.06.2009 (8 months)
16. P/TPj Ja’afar Bin Mahad 18.06.2009 – sekarang

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LIVE: Auld Lang Syne for Teoh Beng Hock

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Live images from the Nirvana Memorial Park in Semenyih from 1.30pm to 3.00pm – Photos by an eye-witness. (For best results, view slideshow using Firefox browser and press Shift key + Reload/Refresh icon on your browser to clear cache).

1502: Young people at the back are singing “Auld Lang Syne” in Mandarin. Many of them are Beng Hock’s friends and current and ex-colleagues. About 500 people are reportedly gathered at the site.

1327: The crowd at the Park is now waiting for the arrival of the MB and Kit Siang.

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Is Jui Meng’s entry into PKR a reason to celebrate?

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While many Pakatan supporters were rejoicing over Chua Jui Meng’s entry into PKR, I had this nagging feeling.

The Pakatan probably needs a psychological boost after Pas’ reduced majority in Manek Urai.

But isn’t there a danger that if more BN types, sidelined by their respective parties, are welcomed to the Pakatan fold, the Pakatan could one day end up becoming “BN Lite”? In the case of Chua, he looks set to be invited to sit on the PKR Supreme Council.

Already there is concern in some circles about some of the ex-Umno types in PKR. Will the party now have to wrestle with ex-MCA types? Remember, race-based politics is not something that is easily shed.

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LIVE: Cops order crowd outside Ipoh DAP to disperse

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Photos by an eye-witness in Ipoh

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Teoh Beng Hock with fiancee Soh Cher Wei on his 29th birthday in April 2008 – Photo courtesy of Justice for Beng Hock

2209: The cops move in after 30 minutes or so, and the crowd gradually disperses. “It was a very solemn gathering, ” says the eye-witness at the scene. “The cops didn’t really seem in the mood to make arrests although a ‘Black Maria’ arrived at the scene.” A few left early as they were not taking any chances…

2126: Some 300 people are now gathered outside Wisma DAP in Ipoh, according to an eye-witness at the scene. Among those present is Kit Siang, who addresses the crowd, followed by Ngeh Koo Ham and a few others.

About 30 police personnel are there as well and they have given the crowd 20 minutes to disperse. The cops are being ‘generous’ today; usually it’s more like three minutes!

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Prasarana taking over Rapid Penang and ferries?

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Soon after the Pakatan-led Penang state government said it wanted to take over the ferry service, we now see the feds moving in, indicating their desire to take over the ferries through Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd. Prasarana, wholly owned by the Finance Ministry, is the asset owner of the bus services operated by Rapid KL and Rapid Penang.

This is reminiscent of how the feds moved in soon after the BN-led Penang government under Koh Tsu Koon indicated it wanted to set up its own state-owned bus service following numerous complaints about the privatised “cowboy”-style bus service. The Penang government’s plan to set up a state bus corporation was thwarted when the feds set up Rapid Penang, a subsidiary of Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (Rapid KL), also wholly-owned by the Finance Ministry.

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Teoh was in pantry at 6.00am: Councillor

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I thought this snippet from a Malaysiakini report was interesting. It quotes Kajang Municipal Councillor Tan Boon Hwa, who was also being questioned by the MACC, as saying he saw Teoh in the pantry:

Tan said the MACC raided his house on Wednesday evening without a warrant. He was then taken to the Selangor MACC headquarters at about 9pm.

When asked, Tan said he did not know that Teoh was in the same building when he was brought there. The duo met only when Tan woke up at about 6am the following day while on the way to the toilet.

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More vigils tonight in memory of Teoh Beng Hock

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2157: Some 150 people gathered outside the MACC office in Penang for a vigil. Speeches were made and flowers were placed in memory of the late Teoh Beng Hock, according to a contact at the scene.

The police were present but allowed the gathering to carry on unhindered.

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Protests and vigils outside MACC offices

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The scene at the vigil outside the MACC office in Selangor last night – Photo by MS

MACCprotestPenang

A DAP protest outside the Penang office of the MACC this morning – Photo by PD

Protests and vigils have been held outside the Selangor and Penang offices of the MACC since the death of Teoh Beng Hock last night.

Last night, some 200 people turned up outside the Selangor office of the MACC for a vigil. This morning, about a hundred demonstrators showed up. Seven of the demonstrators were reportedly arrested including Kapar MP S Manikavasagam and Selangor state exco member Dr Xavier Jayakumar.

Over in Penang, some 30 DAP leaders and supporters clad in black, surrounded by a throng of journalists, gathered outside the MACC office for about 20 minutes after 11.00am.

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