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Sunday 22 November 2009

TEOH BENG HOCK'S SECOND AUTOPSY

The Star, in an update, reported the following on Teoh's second autopsy:
KUALA LUMPUR: The second autopsy on Teoh Beng Hock’s remains started at noon after the pathologists spent the morning discussing and performing X-ray and CT scans on the body. The autopsy was completed 3.15pm.
The family does not know when the results will be revealed. However, they said that he will be reinterred on Tuesday.
The autopsy conducted at the Sungai Buloh Hospital is expected to be completed in three to five hours.
It will be carried out by the hospital’s Pathology and Forensics Department chief Dr Shahidan Md Noor.
Witnessing it would be Thai forensic pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanansunand, who is engaged by the Selangor state government, and foreign expert Prof Peter Vanezis, who is appointed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Read the rest of the report here.
Meanwhile, blogger Rocky's Bru has reported on the attempt by Ean Yong Hian Wah (Selangor exco member and Teoh's employer) to politicize the issue, while blogger WBhim has written about the request by Gobind Singh to provide police protection for Dr Pornthip.

My opinion is that we should all refrain from commenting and let the autopsy runs its course. Hopefully, with the knowledge that the two foreign experts will balance each other out, we will be able to find a final closure to this affair, and to finally allow Teoh to rest in peace.

Thursday 19 November 2009

BUSY

The title of this post has nothing to do with me; it's related to a friend's email entitled "Busy". Since the current going-ons show that we Muslims seem to be at each other's throat and generally in disarray, the email may be relevant to us.
MEETING: (Read even if you're busy)
Satan [that's Syaitan - the devil] called a worldwide convention of satans. In his opening address he said:
"We can't keep Muslims from going to mosque.
We can't keep them from reading their Qur’an and knowing the truth.
We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their Lord.
Once they gain that connection with Allah, our power over them is broken.
So let them go to their mosques; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with ALLAH.”

"This is what I want you to do," said satan:
“Distract them from gaining hold of Allah and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!”
"How shall we do this?" his helpers shouted.
Satan answered:
"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds.
Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow.
Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles.
Keep them from spending time with their children.
As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!
Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice.
Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive.
Keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-Islamic music constantly.
This will jam their minds and break that union with Allah.
Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers.
Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day.
Invade their driving moments with billboards.
Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotion offering free products, services and false hopes.
Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives.
Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night. Give them headaches too!
If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere.
That will fragment their families quickly!
Even in their recreation, let them be excessive.
Have them return from their recreation exhausted.
Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on Allah's creation.
Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy!
And when they go for prayers in the mosque, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences.
Crowd their lives with so many good causes, they have no time to seek the pleasure of Allah.
Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause.
It will work! It will work!"

It was quite a plan! The satans went eagerly to their assignments causing Muslims everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there. Having little time for Allah or their families. Having no time to tell others about the love and mercy of Allah to change lives.
I guess the question is, has satan been successful in his schemes?
You be the judge!!!!!
Does "BUSY" mean:
B-eing
U-nder
S-atan's
Y-oke?

Please pass this on, if you aren't too BUSY!
Hmmm...doesn't this remind us of what has happened to our Muslim brothers across the political divide as well as to our Muslimin and Muslimat in general? Has satan been successful in his schemes? Yes, you be the judge! 

Wednesday 4 November 2009

DR PORNTHIP ARRESTED

A commentator, unspinners fan, has just posted the news that Dr Pornthip was arrested today in a sweeping Thai police action designed to put an end to malicious rumors about His Majesty the King’s health. The commentator's post (unedited) as follows:
Sepandai-pandai cinma kelingh melompat, akhirnya jatug terkena mata sepet juga!
"BANGKOK – Forensic expert Dr Khunying Rojanansunanwas arrested today in a sweeping police action designed to put an end to malicious rumors about His Majesty the King’s health, which were blamed for a sell-off in the SET last month. "...
"However, police believe that, if applied to sensitive topics, the statement might cause panic and disorder among the Thai public, which could threaten national security."
"After her arrest, Dr Pornthip made a brief statement in which she pledged her loyalty to His Majesty the King but stood by her statement.
She was immediately charged on a second count of violating Article 14 of the computer law by circulating false information concerning His Majesty.
this siamese bitch dokter has finally been put a stop to. not only she insulted the king, she is also a big time share manipulator. now she has been punisher!
and the best of it blows up in the pigfaces of the fakatan scum!!
takber!
Click the above link to read the full report, or click here.

What now? Will she be able to make it to Malaysia to be involved in the second autopsy on TBH?

UPDATE - 5 NOV 08, 2.10 AM

Checks with a few Thai online mainstream papers reveal that while there were people arrested for the same offense, there was no mention of Dr Pornthip thus far. Read for example, reports from The Nation here and here, and from Bangkok Post here.


Could it all be a rumour or an unverified report from the paper linked above (notthenation.com), or the mainstream papers have yet to report it? Let's wait and see.

Tuesday 3 November 2009

DR PORNTHIP: MORE QUESTIONS

In blogger Rocky Bru's post here, and following a commentator's suggestion, he proposed that the Government appoints a foreign pathologist /forensic expert to do the second autopsy with Dr Pornthip. In the interest of justice, there should not be any reason for opposing the proposal.

But what interests me more was Rocky's reference to My Sinchew's article, "Wanted: Pornthip's head!" which contained the following short paragraph:
Thanks to the intervention by Pornthip to conduct a second post-mortem on a wealthy Thai MP back in 1999, earlier police reports pointing at him committing suicide was overturned, resulting in a drastic twist in the development of the case.
Sinchew did not elaborate further. It was referring to the high profile case of  a powerful and wealthy Thai Member of Parliament, Hangthong Thammawattana. However, what Sinchew reported was in fact only a small part of the story. The full story of the case, which surprisingly was not covered extensively by bloggers except a brief mention by Anak Bangsa Malaysia here, should be made known as it casts further doubt on Dr Pornthip's reputation. The case has an eerie parallel to that of Teoh Beng Hock (TBH), which led to Dr Pornthip being probed for breaching medical ethics by the Thai Medical Council.

The Hangthong Thammawattana Case

In September 1999, Hangthong Thammawattana was found shot in his younger brother’s (Noppadol Thammawattana) bedroom clutching a gun in his hand. Hangthong Thammawattana was the administrator of his family’s vast fortunes.

The first autopsy conducted by the Thai police found that Hangthong committed suicide. The case was closed as a suicide.

Dr Pornthip did not agree to the police findings. Her team, which included Scottish pathologist Dr Adrian Linacre, then conducted a second autopsy and concluded that Hangthong was murdered. Dr Pornthip went public in announcing her findings. Noppadol was subsequently arrested in 2003 for allegedly conspiring to murder his elder brother Hangthong.

In his defence, Noppadol sought and obtained court permission for the third autopsy that took place on January 2006. The third autopsy was headed by Sawet Kanluan, a forensic pathologist based in Chicago, and  was jointly carried out by a team of forensic physicians from five universities a month later. The findings of the third autopsy was consistent with the first, i.e. suicide.  The team also included American criminalist Henry C. Lee, who likewise concluded that Hangthong's death was a suicide.

Interestingly, the experts who conducted the third autopsy are people who had taught Dr Pornthip (i.e. they were her teachers!). In his testimony in court (read here), Dr Supoj Jamsuwan, deputy head of Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Forensic Medicine, said
"...respected experts from Chulalongkorn, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai and Mahidol universities had jointly conducted the third autopsy. 'Some of them are those who have taught Khunying Pornthip, Supoj said. Without mentioning anyone by name, he said someone viewed Thailand’s forensic science as lacking standards and had tried to set the standards herself.
Dr Supoj was, needless to say, referring to Dr Pornthip when he alluded to "someone...had tried to set the standards herself."

Consequently, Noppadol was acquitted of Hangthong's murder by the Thai Criminal Court. The court ruled that substantial evidences showed that Hangthong committed suicide (read here).

Following his acquittal, Noppadol filed a defamation lawsuit, claiming over one billion baht of damage, against Dr Porntip and Dr Thamrong Chirachariyavej, the physician who also performed Hangthong’s autopsy with her, for giving a false autopsy report of his brother Hangthong. However, a Provincial Court cleared Dr Pornthip of defaming Noppadol (read here). The court says Dr Pornthip did not break any academic principle in doing her work and her statement was made in a professional capacity.

Probe into Dr Porntip's Alleged Breach of Medical Ethics 

However, that did not stop Noppadol from filing in September 2007 a complaint with the Thai Medical Council to launch an investigation as to whether Dr Porntip had breached the medical ethics related to her autopsy of Hangthong (read here and here).

Professor Amnaj Kulsalanan, Secretary-General of the Medical Council, said a committee of the council would investigate the issue and that he had sought the opinion of the Thai Royal College of Pathology as well as of the complainant and Dr Pornthip.

Professor Amnaj said the committee would find out whether the autopsy carried out by Dr Porntip was up to standard; whether she had honestly issued the certificate of the autopsy result; and whether Dr Porntip's action had violated the autopsy standard of the Royal College of Pathology or not. If Dr Pornthip is found to have breached ethics, she faces punishment ranging from a written warning to removal of her medical licence.

Professor Amnaj said that the investigation would take time as the panel would have to listen to opinions from two sides, adding that it would be completed within the year (i.e. 2007).

However, this writer has searched the internet to find out the results of the investigation but found none. It can be presumed therefore that the investigation is still on-going and that the Council has not reached a verdict.

What can be concluded from the above is that
  1. Dr Pornthip erred in her second autopsy, forcing the court to order a third autopsy which found that Hangthong committed suicide (the same conclusion arrived at by the first autopsy). Regardless of what one may say about the Hangthong case, nothing can take away from the fact that Dr Pornthip did make a mistake. If we relate this to TBH case, what guarantee do we have that she will not make the same mistake? What guarantee do we have that other interested parties will not file for a third autopsy if they find it necessary to contest her findings. It is in this context that Rocky's proposal has a strong case. Someone must monitor her autopsy.
  2. Dr Pornthip is still under investigation for the alleged breach of medical ethics in conducting the second autopsy. Whatever the outcome of the investigation, the fact that she is being probed would be enough to cast doubt on her character and integrity. More importantly, can our court allow the second autopsy to be performed while she is still under investigation by the Thai Medical Council? What does our law says with regard to this situation?
The TBH case is being dragged far longer than it should, all because Gobind & Co - and the opposition camp in general - treat it as a political game. The Coroner must put a stop to this and force a final closure.


Sunday 1 November 2009

PAS' DEVIANT PRACTICE

What do we make of the following report on a deviant practice by the obsessed followers of PAS leaders?
Idris Calls For Action Against Deviant Practice
BESUT, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh on Saturday called for action against the people in several villages in this district who allegedly subscribed to the deviant practice of sleeping with the photographs of the country's opposition political leaders in the belief that they would be divinely rewarded.
Idris, who is the state assemblyman for Jertih, said these villagers had also been indoctrinated by certain irresponsible people into believing that dreaming of meeting the leaders would also bring them such a reward.
"This is a serious matter which should be rectified by Islamic religious elders and intellectuals because it is clearly a deviant practice aimed at retaining political popularity," he told reporters after opening a mega sale carnival in the Besut district, here.
Meanwhile, religious advisor to the prime minister, Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin, said glorifying leaders and taking their photographs to bed was the result of ignorance and the deviant practice should be rectified.
He said he hoped that the religious elders of the relevant opposition political parties would rectify the situation by being forthright with their supporters. -  BERNAMA.
This practice is nothing new in the history of mankind. It is known as passionate attachment to other human beings It is a cult that encourages a person to abandon Allah and worship people instead. It is also known as "The Religion of Worshipping People" in which such people reject Allah (Who created them), and deifies a person or persons in His place. Examples include the worshiping of Egyptian Pharoahs in ancient times and of Hitler and Mao Tze Tung in the 20th century.

Sadly, the obsession of some people toward religious leaders appears to have become a trend - a dangerous one - in this country, and even more tragic, it involves Muslims themselves. This is not to imply that obsession towards Nik Aziz has reached the level of the Pharoahs', but it may soon be if left unchecked. And let's not forget the obsession towards Anwar Ibrahim by his fanatical followers.

We can only hope and pray that fellow Muslims who are entrapped in this practice return to the true path according to the Qur'an and Sunnah. In many places in the Qur'an, Allah invites humans to save themselves from this errant belief and serve only Him. In one of these verses, He says:
[Ibrahim said,] "Instead of Allah you worship only idols. You are inventing a lie. Those you worship besides Allah have no power to provide for you. So seek your provision from Allah and worship Him and give thanks to Him. It is to Him you will be returned." (Surat al-Ankabut, 17)
We hope the statements of Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh and Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin are not just rhetorical and are translated into concrete actions. They, and the religious authorities in general, must show courage in handling the issue and not be constrained by political considerations. And they should also not ignore the latest revelation about PAS' ikrar lafaz taklik, as reported by several blogs (see my previous post).