Malaysian Youth Entrepreneur Seeks Justice For Cousin On Death Row

The Star reported that Teoh Keat Keong, 31, merely nodded when the court interpreter translated to him in Hokkien the decision by Judicial Commis­sioner Wong Teck Meng to sentence him with death penalty after the defence failed to raise reasonable doubt.

The High Court found Teoh guilty of trafficking 34.6kg of methamphetamine at a house in Lorong Bukit Juru 4 in Bukit Mertajam at about 11am on 11 November 2014.

The judge reportedly said that Teoh claimed that the police had beaten him up and framed him but the court failed to establish any motive as the police officers have never met him before.

He added that despite Teoh's claims that he was hired to renovate the house, the police had found two set of keys on him.

Tan, who is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of YouthsToday.com, took to Facebook on 17 April to share her cousin's story, including the chain of events leading to Teoh's arrest.

She recounted how Teoh has always been a loving cousin brother and they have shared many fond memories together.

"He has always been there to help, motivate and also care for the family. I was little back then," she wrote.

She added that Teoh was offered a full scholarship at Bukit Jalil Sports School to represent Malaysia in the throwing games but unfortunately, he had to turn down the offer because his mother asked him to stay back to help mend the family's fruit stall at Gurney Drive, Penang.

Eventually, he dropped out from high school and soon after, his father passed away, leaving the family's debts on Teoh's shoulders. According to Tan, her cousin brother needed to work thrice as hard to take care of his family.

"The rising living cost in Malaysia and the state of economy strangled him further. Feeling depressed, the only way he could release stress was to hang out with his friends at computer cafes or clubs."

She said that a man had approached her cousin to work for him one day. The man told Teoh that all his financial worries will be sorted out if he worked for him.

"The man offered him (Teoh) a job and the privilege to sort out his family debts and provide his mother a better life. The man offered him a job in the renovation industry," Tan wrote.

Her cousin accepted the job offer.

Tan said that her cousin was suddenly ambushed by the police and was beaten up while he was shopping in Penang. She added that her cousin was beaten up by the police when they ambushed him.

"The police later took him to the house that he was renovating and drugs were found in the house," she continued.

In her Facebook post, Tan said that her cousin told her to tell his story after the announcement of his death penalty from the high court.

Tan said that her cousin has one year left for the final appeal before he will face execution.

She urged everyone who come across her post to share it as a wake-up call for Malaysia to look into the justice system and the practice of death penalty.

"I will not give up on my cousin brother. My family and I are fighting to our last breath to at least keep him alive. We are submitting our final appeal to the highest federal court to pardon him from death," Tan said.

On 15 April, Tan had posted a status on her Facebook page saying that she felt sad after hearing that her cousin brother was sentenced to death penalty for drug trafficking.

"His last words to me was to help as many people so that they will not end up in his position. He said, "As much as you are in need of cash, never ever take the short cuts in life"," she wrote.

According to the Malaysian drugs law, anyone who is caught in possession of 30 gram or more of Methamphetamine will be presumed as trafficking drugs.

Anyone that is found guilty of trafficking in drugs will face the death penalty while suspects caught with controlled substances will face long jail sentences and heavy fines are mandatory.

Besides Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam have laws that may punish drug offenders with the death penalty.