I guess Sarawak state elections and a certain video clip take a back seat to the recent death of Customs officer, an assistant director in Selangor,  Ahmad Sarbani, aged 56. He died at MACC office in KL, which immediately became a political issue, plus emotional issue for some quarters like Customs officers, and economic issue for businesses.  MACC is still grappling with inquiry on Teoh Beng Hock death 2 years ago, and now hit with this latest death.

There are many stories going around, and its hard to identify the correct information on the death of Ahmad Sarbani.

Did the deceased get a call asking him to go to the MACC office? This can be verified.  If yes, then the story takes a major turn. If not, then one wonders why the deceased went to MACC. Perhaps to provide evidence? revise previous statement? discuss with the officer?

People in stressed condition can do many things. A quiet person can turn into murderer even.  However, regardless of he deceased being a good guy or bad guy, the death should have not occurred. If he had come to the office under invitation (as witness), then what does MACC SOP says on handling witnesses? If he came in on his own as a visitor, again what does the SOP say? Is MACC at fault? Are there some black sheep in MACC?

Some quote the person as being religious, but for me that’s secondary. Nowadays religion is just a procedural thing. Yes, you may pray 5 times a day and so on, but can also be a veil for your alternate persona. Do you notice when the accused go to courts, they wear songkok/tudung or put large vibuthi etc? Want to show that they are alim to the judge. Perception management.

Anyway, the deceased came to MACC on a normal bike (seen in Malay Mail article), and that’s doesn’t sound like luxurious lifestyle. An investigation can reveal the financial standing of the deceased, to verify his innocence.

The deceased also received support from the freight forwarding agents. They protested and said he was a nice guy, hardworking, always help them out etc. Interesting indeed. We seldom see customers or clients protest for a worker, but here it is. He must have been one dedicated staff, and certainly a loss for the department.

Let’s look at the possibilities of the death (hope I didn’t miss out any):

• the deceased could have jumped out of the window voluntarily
• verbally threatened/blackmailed into jumping out
• could have been physically pushed out of the window
• has been hypnotised into jumping out of the window due to black magic (don’t laugh!)
• medical problem and accidentally fell out of the window in a spell of dizziness or heart attack etc. (depends on window height and position, but from what I see, the window is too small)

The deceased was in a room on the 3rd floor, and was found dead on the badminton court at 1st floor, a distance of 2 floors.

The police need to investigate, and it won’t be easy. I suspect the case is much much bigger than the death. We are talking about billions of ringgits of under-/undeclared taxes which brings illicit revenue to various groups.  What would you do if you income is suddenly threatened?

The current operation by MACC on enforcement agencies may be hard to stomach for some, but it must go on. We read today that 8 Immigration officers were brought to trial for corruption charges. Not sure how the death with affect MACC’s investigation on Customs Department.

I think all those involved in enforcement agencies must be rotated every year including the top bosses. Also, their asset declaration must be made frequently and must be followed up with investigation or audit. And, as public/citizen, we should report to authorities if we find that our neighbors/relatives etc. who are working in enforcement agencies  seem to be living beyond their means. If you are an employee earning few thousand ringgit per month with 5 mouths to feed, is it possible to have few houses  in strategic location and 2 expensive cars? Tepuk dada tanya selera.

Regardless of how we look at it, a family has lost a husband and father.  Life won’t be same for them again.  We can only hope that the death is investigated and those found guilty punished.