Daily Lesson from Life 04 March 2009

"Uproar over detainee's death

Rights groups and political parties demanded action against rogue police in Malaysia. -Wed Mar 04, 2009 AFP
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - RIGHTS groups and political parties on Wednesday demanded action against rogue police in Malaysia after a new autopsy revealed an ethnic Indian man died in police custody because of a beating.

A second post mortem examination on 22-year-old suspected car thief A. Kugan, released on Tuesday, showed he died while being interrogated on Jan 20 from injuries consistent with being beaten. There were also a number of burn marks on his body.

The second autopsy contradicted the first, which found that Kugan died from fluid in his lungs.


The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), the second largest party within the ruling coalition, said it was 'outraged and horrified' by the incident.

'It is not up to the police to act as prosecutor, judge and executioner,' MCA spokesman Wong Nai Chee said in a statement. 'The police force should reveal the results of their internal investigations and take the necessary action against their personnel,' he added.

Eleven police officers allegedly involved in the case have been transferred to desk duties.


Rights group Voice of the Malaysian People (Suaram) condemned the incident, saying Kugan's case was not isolated. It said there were 85 deaths in police custody between 2003 and 2007.

'(It) severely undermines the credibility of the police and other enforcement officers in detention centres,' Suaram coordinator Tan Moon Hui said in a statement.


But Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who oversees the police, hit out at critics who he said were taking political advantage of the situation, state news agency Bernama reported.

'This case has criminal implications and... has nothing to do with politics,' Mr Syed Hamid said on Wednesday.
Kugan's death sparked an uproar among the Indian community, with more than 1,000 people attending his funeral.


Ethnic Indians, the majority of whom are descendants of labourers, were brought to Malaysia by British colonial rulers in the 1800s. They have complained they are marginalised in terms of education, wealth and opportunities."

This is a very sad and disturbing development in our neighbour. Just before I read this, I was invited to view a Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) documentary on the 'dire state of political corruption and consipiracy against truth seeking Malaysians'! If the allegations were true in that documentary file, I am not surprised at this 'beating to death' while under custody episode!

Lessons for me are:

1. leaders must take IMMEDIATE actions to stem out any actions that will cast the INTEGRITY of the authority into doubt by conducting an OPEN and all-inclusive investigation to prove beyond reasonable doutbs that the initial accusations formed were groundless and fictitious! Leaders cannot just blamed the accusers of 'unpure' motives! This is NOT good rebuttal!;

2. when the integrity of the authority is doubted by the people, many will NOT be fully committed to any initiatives championed by the leaders. When there is not trust, there is no real commitment to work together to achieve successes. Doubts thrive on slow clarification, on unconvincing evidence that nothing is amiss, and on unreasonable denial without facts! A divided team cannot be pulling their weight and move in one direction!;

3. when doubts persist, it will spread. Like a little ripple created by a tiny stone thrown into a still pond, it will spread effortlessly outwards and further afar. Soon, the whole pond will feel that impact. This is also true for actions that has negative impact to the work at hand, the people involved, and the companies. As leaders, we must stop the doubt immediately and let out the TRUTH. So that the TRUTH can SPREAD and reinforce the positive energy to all instead of the destructive negative energy!

If you are leaders of an organization or team, take IMMEDIATE actions to restore TRUST!!