De·fen·es·tra·tion

Technorati tags: Defenestration, Teo Beng Hock, MACC, Torture

Defenestration.

Now there’s a word Walski hadn’t heard in years. Until Jeff Ooi brought it up in one of his recent posts.

It’s a word that usually applied metaphorically. Occasionally, it’s application is literal.

Confused as to why this post now? Well, perhaps it’s time to give your brain a little exercise: connect the dots, and do the fucking math. 
(metaphorically cool, literally un-cool, and more, in the full post)

Yes, one of Walski’s pet peeves is people who expect to be spoon-fed all the time. He’s been know to defenestrate such individuals. Metaphorically, of course.

Etymologically, the word defenestration derives from the Latin words de (from, or out of) and fenestra (window or opening).

Metaphorically used, it’s usually in conjunction with throwing out ideas, concepts and paradigms “out the window”. And the idea of people expecting to be spoon-fed all the time, too, probably.

Literally, and historically, is a totally other matter altogether, much more terrifying than it’s metaphorical cousin. It’s been used as a method of execution, some notable ones included (via Wikipedia). As an interrogation method, threats of defenestration are sometimes used to extract information – you’ve seen it in films before, Walski’s pretty darn sure. If you’re one of the more morbidly curious, you can check this video out (hat-tip: Dr. Azly Rahman).

Sometimes these threats are followed by follow thru. Sometimes, they can be accidental, so Walski’s told. RPK thinks so, anyway.

The writing was already on the wall very much earlier. Alarm bells were wailing like banshees. But this was largely ignored. It was ignored because it was Malaysia Today that had triggered the alarm bells. Malaysia Today is not the most reliable source. It does not offer the best of information. What Malaysia Today dabbles in are rumours and innuendoes.

...

“Where is the smoking gun?” they ask. “Show me the body!” they demand. No gun, no body, then no crime has been committed.

Well, today, there is a body. It is the body of a most unfortunate Chinese opposition member who was arrested and tortured by the MACC officers. Yes, he was tortured. And he was tortured because the MACC wanted him to talk.

...

The unfortunate young man panicked. He went ballistic when he saw the distance he would have to travel before hitting the ground floor. He struggled. They could not hold onto him. Gravity took over and the life of this young man was prematurely snuffed out.
(excerpted from: Malaysia Today)

The strange thing about stuff that gets published on Malaysia Today, innuendos, rumors or what not, is that in many cases, they end up being true. Walski will not go as far as to say that the MACC is responsible, only that it is a plausible scenario. Like a few other plausible scenarios.

Be that as it may, if the scenario that Teo Beng Hock committed suicide is not plausible (being that he was about to get married and all), then the questions we should be asking are WHO and WHY? We pretty much already know how, and for some of you, learned a new word in the process.

Another popular theory floating around at the moment is one that pro-UMNO blog Empayar Malaya has offered – the theory being that the DAP snuffed Teo out to protect their own behind. The (real) basis of their argument is that government agencies can’t do any wrong.

To be fair, we probably shouldn’t speculate who actually was responsible for the defenestration. It may have even been a sinister giant chicken for all you know, since the police have yet to rule out fowl play.

But one thing is for sure - about the only way to get a true picture of how MACC operates, and in particular, what happened to Teo Beng Hock, a Royal Commission of Inquiry is probably what's needed.

In the meantime, in case you were wondering, to date, 99% of the respondents to the latest poll say that MACC should bear some responsibility. If you haven’t yet put your vote in, mouse-pointer to pixel, the poll will be up until midnight this Friday.

Defenestration, come to think of it, is really a cool sounding word, isn’t it? Not so cool when you think about what it means, though. Unless you’re thinking about it metaphorically.

But literally? Please… defenestrate that thought…