Giving people false hope is rather cruel

In the late Teoh Beng Hock's case, his family was led on to believe justice would be served.

I believe in being honest from the start, and not giving false hope to people who are expecting something from you.

When I was managing a small developer's office, my boss who was also my brother, would really stretch his goodwill beyond reality. Just imagine all the units taken up and when asked by a friend or relative, he would still give a reply: 'I'll see what I can do... in case there is any purchaser who changes his mind...' The demand exceeded supply and nobody would give up voluntarily, or even if a purchaser changed his mind, he could easily pass it on to somebody else, maybe for a small profit. Why couldn't he just say, 'I'm sorry, all the houses are taken up.'? It is better to give a straight answer than to give false hope with practically nil chance of it happening. Even for such a comparatively small matter, I felt guilty knowing the true situation.

Yet in Teoh Beng Hock's case, the poor family had to endure prolonged sadness, bitterness, and anger, which we can imagine under such circumstances, when there was no real intention to find the culprit or culprits responsible for his death.

With the benefit of hindsight, had they knew the Inquest and the proposed Royal Commission of Inquiry were not to find the person(s) responsible, would they have agreed to the exhumation of the coffin? The Chinese are known to strongly dislike autopsy, let alone agree to the exhumation of a loved one's coffin for the purpose of further medical examinations. I can only say the leaders who could make a difference are being heartless for carrying on the charade.

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