{"id":44879,"date":"2026-07-08T14:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T06:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/?p=44879"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T06:29:20","slug":"press-statement-by-tbh-ada-klscah-youth-17th-anniversary-memorial-for-teoh-beng-hock-never-forget-teoh-beng-hock-never-turn-back-the-clock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/2026\/07\/44879.html","title":{"rendered":"Press Statement by TBH-ADA & KLSCAH Youth: 17th Anniversary Memorial for Teoh Beng Hock: “Never Forget Teoh Beng Hock, Never Turn Back the Clock!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 17th Anniversary Memorial for Teoh Beng Hock, themed “Never Forget Teoh Beng Hock, Never Turn Back the Clock!”, will be held on Thursday, 16 July 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at the Kong Choi Exhibition Hall, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH). The Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement and KLSCAH Youth warmly invites members of the public to join us in commemorating this tragedy in Malaysia’s democratic journey.<\/p>\n

Teoh Beng Hock was a political victim of Malaysia’s democratic transition, when forces from the old regime exploited state institutions to undermine the emerging new government.<\/p>\n

Teoh Beng Hock’s death was not an isolated case of custodial death, nor was it merely an incident of law enforcement brutality. His death symbolizes the destruction of the principles of democracy and the rule of law. We therefore strongly condemn the old regime that was responsible for his death.<\/p>\n

Regrettably, the new government that came into power has also refused to uncover the truth behind Teoh Beng Hock’s political death and to deliver justice, even though both his life and his death contributed to the birth of this new administration.<\/p>\n

When the new government chose to collaborate with elites from the old establishment, conceal the old regime’s crimes of subverting democracy and carrying out political persecution, and vigorously defend indefensible acts of institutional violence, it constituted the greatest betrayal of the democratic movement and of Teoh Beng Hock’s family.<\/p>\n

During the Johor state election, both the new and the old political camps refused to sign the pledge calling for justice for Teoh Beng Hock. This demonstrates that neither side has shown any genuine reflection on the Teoh Beng Hock case, nor any willingness to correct the wrongs or reform the institutions that undermined democracy and the rule of law.<\/p>\n

When old and new political forces increasingly converge because of shared political interests, abandoning the democratic and human rights reform agenda that they once championed, participants in the democratic movement must not allow comradeship or political loyalty to excuse the abandonment of principles or the refusal to correct mistakes. We cannot simply tolerate political elites whose only remaining pursuit is power for its own sake.<\/p>\n

Democracy must never move backwards. When the democratic movement reaches a critical juncture, its participants must cast aside irrational attachments and emotional entanglements, courageously adopt new strategies, forge new alliances, and advance towards the next milestone of substantive democracy.<\/p>\n

The movement to seek justice for Teoh Beng Hock is no exception.<\/p>\n

We sincerely invite everyone to bring your family and friends to this memorial gathering. The event will include a town hall meeting, where we hope to hear your views on the next phase of our movement. We will also launch the Online Teoh Beng Hock Memorial Museum and invite leaders from various political parties and organisations to deliver speeches expressing their solidarity and support. Thank you.<\/p>\n

Registration: https:\/\/forms.gle\/28ogCrfNyBSVsRcE7<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 17th Anniversary Memorial for Teoh Beng Hock, themed “Never Forget Teoh Beng Hock, Never Turn Back the Clock!”, will be held on Thursday, 16 July 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at the Kong Choi Exhibition Hall, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH). The Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement and KLSCAH Youth warmly invites members of the public to join us in commemorating this tragedy in Malaysia’s democratic journey. Teoh Beng Hock was a political victim of Malaysia’s democratic transition, when forces from the old regime exploited state institutions to undermine the emerging new government. Teoh Beng Hock’s death was not an isolated case of custodial death, nor was it merely an incident of law enforcement brutality. His death symbolizes the destruction of the principles of democracy and the rule of law. We therefore strongly condemn the old regime that was responsible for his death. Regrettably, the […]\n","protected":false},"author":670,"featured_media":44876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,204,164,240,196],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-event","category-statement-youth","category-statements-announcements","category-statements-of-committess","category-youth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/wp-content\/uploads\/TBH17-Socmed.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44879"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/670"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44880,"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44879\/revisions\/44880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klscah.org.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}