Gerakan reviles vehemently any party who has turned the death of Teoh Beng Hock into a racial issue. Calling the acts of such people who attempt to incite racial disharmony among the people as irresponsible and despicable, Gerakan Vice President Datuk Mah Siew Keong said that such racial based perspective is against any known trait of human intelligence.

Datuk Mah said the issue of Teoh Beng Hock’s death should not be seen as an issue of racial prejudice and overtures but should be seen more importantly as an issue concerning the independence, transparency and dependability of our institutions of governance.

“More than ever, what people want now is the truth. Truth is the truth and it does not carry the label of Malay, Chinese or Indian. The outcry that we see now is the outpour of the people’s feelings towards the nation’s sacrosanct institutions which is one of doubt and loss of confidence,” said Datuk Mah.

“Any party or person who tries to politicize and package this issue as one that is racially based cannot be considered a person of normal human intelligence.”

He added, “It does not matter whether or not Teoh died under the supervision of the MACC, for as a government agency sitting in one of the most important echelons of governance and which is answerable to the public; it has to take responsibility and has an obligation to provide answers to the people.”

“The covert and mysterious manner in which it carries out its operations does not help. In such circumstances it would be all too evident that the public will seek answers, and those who treat such enquiries with racial thought and prejudices must certainly be very foolish to do so.”

A columnist in Berita Harian recently wrote that the people should not call for the demolition of our institutions and not feed on the words of certain people whose agenda was to question the capabilities of Malays.