Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Friday, May 31, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
Patti Page dies
American pop singer Patti Page, whose 1950 hit “Tennessee Waltz” topped the charts for months, has died in Southern California, her manager said yesterday. She was 85.
Nicknamed “The Singing’ Rage,” Page sold more than 100 million albums in her 67-year career, which included 1950s chart toppers “(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window,” “I Went to Your Wedding” and “All My Love (Bolero).”
She died on Tuesday in a nursing home in Encinitas, north of San Diego, after suffering congestive heart failure, her manager, said Michael Glynn.
Nicknamed “The Singing’ Rage,” Page sold more than 100 million albums in her 67-year career, which included 1950s chart toppers “(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window,” “I Went to Your Wedding” and “All My Love (Bolero).”
She died on Tuesday in a nursing home in Encinitas, north of San Diego, after suffering congestive heart failure, her manager, said Michael Glynn.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Larry Hagman of 'Dallas' fame, dies
Larry Hagman, who created one of American television's most supreme villains in the conniving, amoral oilman J.R. Ewing of "Dallas," died on Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported. He was 81.
Hagman died at a Dallas hospital of complications from his battle with throat cancer, the newspaper said, quoting a statement from his family. He had suffered from liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver in the 1990s after decades of drinking.
Hagman's mother was stage and movie star Mary Martin and he became a star himself in 1965 on "I Dream of Jeannie," a popular television sitcom in which he played Major Anthony Nelson, an astronaut who discovers a beautiful genie in a bottle.
"Dallas," which made its premiere on the CBS network in 1978, made Hagman a superstar. The show quickly became one of the network's top-rated programs, built an international following and inspired a spin-off, imitators and a revival in 2012.
"Dallas" was the night-time soap-opera story of a Texas family, fabulously wealthy from oil and cattle, and its plot brimmed with back-stabbing, double-dealing, family feuds, violence, adultery and other bad behavior.
In the middle of it all stood Hagman's black-hearted J.R. Ewing - grinning wickedly in a broad cowboy hat and boots, plotting how to cheat his business competitors and cheat on his wife. He was the villain TV viewers loved to despise during the show's 356-episode run from 1978 to 1991.
"I really can't remember half of the people I've slept with, stabbed in the back or driven to suicide," Hagman said of his character in Time magazine.
In his autobiography, "Hello Darlin': Tall (and Absolutely True) Tales About My Life," Hagman wrote that J.R. originally was not to be the focus of "Dallas" but that changed when he began ad-libbing on the set to make his character more outrageous and compelling.
'WHO SHOT J.R.?'
To conclude its second season, the "Dallas" producers put together one of U.S. television's most memorable episodes in which Ewing was shot by an unseen assailant. That gave fans months to fret over whether J.R. would survive and who had pulled the trigger. In the show's opening the following season, it was revealed that J.R.'s sister-in-law, Kristin, with whom he had been having an affair, was behind the gun.
Hagman said an international publisher offered him $250,000 to reveal who had shot J.R. and he considered giving the wrong information and taking the money, but in the end, "I decided not to be so like J.R. in real life."
The popularity of "Dallas" made Hagman one of the best-paid actors in television and earned him a fortune that even a Ewing would have coveted. He lost some of it, however, in bad oil investments before turning to real estate.
"I have an apartment in New York, a ranch in Santa Fe, a castle in Ojai outside of L.A., a beach house in Malibu and thinking of buying a place in Santa Monica," Hagman said in a Chicago Tribune interview.
An updated "Dallas" series began in June 2012 on the TNT network with Hagman reprising his J.R. role with original cast members Linda Gray, who played J.R.'s long-suffering wife, Sue Ellen, and Patrick Duffy, who was his brother Bobby. The show was to focus on the sons of J.R. and Bobby.
Hagman had a wide eccentric streak. When he first met actress Lauren Bacall, he licked her arm because he had been told she did not like to be touched and he was known for leading parades on the Malibu beach and showing up at a grocery store in a gorilla suit. Above his Malibu home flew a flag with the credo "Vita Celebratio Est (Life Is a Celebration)" and he lived hard for many years.
In 1967, rock musician David Crosby turned him on to LSD, which Hagman said took away his fear of death, and Jack Nicholson introduced him to marijuana because Nicholson thought he was drinking too much.
Hagman had started drinking as a teenager and said he did not stop until the moment in 1992 when his doctor told him he had cirrhosis of the liver and could die within six months. Hagman wrote that for the past 15 years he had been drinking about four bottles of champagne a day, including while on the "Dallas" set.
LIVER TRANSPLANT
In July 1995, he was diagnosed with liver cancer, which led him to quit smoking, and a month later he underwent a liver transplant.
After giving up his vices, Hagman said he did not lose his zest for life.
"It's the same old Larry Hagman," he told a reporter. "He's just a littler sober-er."
Hagman was born on September 21, 1931, in Weatherford, Texas, and his father was a lawyer who dealt with the Texas oil barons Hagman would later come to portray. He was still a boy when his parents divorced and he went to Los Angeles with Martin, who would become a Broadway and Hollywood musical star.
Hagman eventually landed in New York to pursue acting, making his stage debut there in "The Taming of the Shrew." In New York, he married Maj Axelsson in 1954 while they were in a production of "South Pacific. The marriage produced two children, Heidi and Preston.
Hagman served in the Air Force, spending five years in Europe as the director of USO shows, and on his return to New York he took a starring role in the daytime soap "The Edge of Night." His breakthrough came in 1965 when he landed the "I Dream of Jeannie" role opposite Barbara Eden.
In his later years, Hagman became an advocate for organ transplants and an anti-smoking campaigner. He also was devoted to solar energy, telling the New York Times he had a $750,000 solar panel system at his Ojai estate, and made a commercial in which he portrayed a J.R. Ewing who had forsaken oil for solar power. He was a longtime member of the Peace and Freedom Party, a minor leftist organization in California.
Hagman told the Times that after death he wanted his remains to be "spread over a field and have marijuana and wheat planted and harvest it in a couple of years and then have a big marijuana cake, enough for 200 to 300 people. People would eat a little of Larry."
(Writing by Bill Trott in Washington; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuszinkis in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Hagman died at a Dallas hospital of complications from his battle with throat cancer, the newspaper said, quoting a statement from his family. He had suffered from liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver in the 1990s after decades of drinking.
Hagman's mother was stage and movie star Mary Martin and he became a star himself in 1965 on "I Dream of Jeannie," a popular television sitcom in which he played Major Anthony Nelson, an astronaut who discovers a beautiful genie in a bottle.
"Dallas," which made its premiere on the CBS network in 1978, made Hagman a superstar. The show quickly became one of the network's top-rated programs, built an international following and inspired a spin-off, imitators and a revival in 2012.
"Dallas" was the night-time soap-opera story of a Texas family, fabulously wealthy from oil and cattle, and its plot brimmed with back-stabbing, double-dealing, family feuds, violence, adultery and other bad behavior.
In the middle of it all stood Hagman's black-hearted J.R. Ewing - grinning wickedly in a broad cowboy hat and boots, plotting how to cheat his business competitors and cheat on his wife. He was the villain TV viewers loved to despise during the show's 356-episode run from 1978 to 1991.
"I really can't remember half of the people I've slept with, stabbed in the back or driven to suicide," Hagman said of his character in Time magazine.
In his autobiography, "Hello Darlin': Tall (and Absolutely True) Tales About My Life," Hagman wrote that J.R. originally was not to be the focus of "Dallas" but that changed when he began ad-libbing on the set to make his character more outrageous and compelling.
'WHO SHOT J.R.?'
To conclude its second season, the "Dallas" producers put together one of U.S. television's most memorable episodes in which Ewing was shot by an unseen assailant. That gave fans months to fret over whether J.R. would survive and who had pulled the trigger. In the show's opening the following season, it was revealed that J.R.'s sister-in-law, Kristin, with whom he had been having an affair, was behind the gun.
Hagman said an international publisher offered him $250,000 to reveal who had shot J.R. and he considered giving the wrong information and taking the money, but in the end, "I decided not to be so like J.R. in real life."
The popularity of "Dallas" made Hagman one of the best-paid actors in television and earned him a fortune that even a Ewing would have coveted. He lost some of it, however, in bad oil investments before turning to real estate.
"I have an apartment in New York, a ranch in Santa Fe, a castle in Ojai outside of L.A., a beach house in Malibu and thinking of buying a place in Santa Monica," Hagman said in a Chicago Tribune interview.
An updated "Dallas" series began in June 2012 on the TNT network with Hagman reprising his J.R. role with original cast members Linda Gray, who played J.R.'s long-suffering wife, Sue Ellen, and Patrick Duffy, who was his brother Bobby. The show was to focus on the sons of J.R. and Bobby.
Hagman had a wide eccentric streak. When he first met actress Lauren Bacall, he licked her arm because he had been told she did not like to be touched and he was known for leading parades on the Malibu beach and showing up at a grocery store in a gorilla suit. Above his Malibu home flew a flag with the credo "Vita Celebratio Est (Life Is a Celebration)" and he lived hard for many years.
In 1967, rock musician David Crosby turned him on to LSD, which Hagman said took away his fear of death, and Jack Nicholson introduced him to marijuana because Nicholson thought he was drinking too much.
Hagman had started drinking as a teenager and said he did not stop until the moment in 1992 when his doctor told him he had cirrhosis of the liver and could die within six months. Hagman wrote that for the past 15 years he had been drinking about four bottles of champagne a day, including while on the "Dallas" set.
LIVER TRANSPLANT
In July 1995, he was diagnosed with liver cancer, which led him to quit smoking, and a month later he underwent a liver transplant.
After giving up his vices, Hagman said he did not lose his zest for life.
"It's the same old Larry Hagman," he told a reporter. "He's just a littler sober-er."
Hagman was born on September 21, 1931, in Weatherford, Texas, and his father was a lawyer who dealt with the Texas oil barons Hagman would later come to portray. He was still a boy when his parents divorced and he went to Los Angeles with Martin, who would become a Broadway and Hollywood musical star.
Hagman eventually landed in New York to pursue acting, making his stage debut there in "The Taming of the Shrew." In New York, he married Maj Axelsson in 1954 while they were in a production of "South Pacific. The marriage produced two children, Heidi and Preston.
Hagman served in the Air Force, spending five years in Europe as the director of USO shows, and on his return to New York he took a starring role in the daytime soap "The Edge of Night." His breakthrough came in 1965 when he landed the "I Dream of Jeannie" role opposite Barbara Eden.
In his later years, Hagman became an advocate for organ transplants and an anti-smoking campaigner. He also was devoted to solar energy, telling the New York Times he had a $750,000 solar panel system at his Ojai estate, and made a commercial in which he portrayed a J.R. Ewing who had forsaken oil for solar power. He was a longtime member of the Peace and Freedom Party, a minor leftist organization in California.
Hagman told the Times that after death he wanted his remains to be "spread over a field and have marijuana and wheat planted and harvest it in a couple of years and then have a big marijuana cake, enough for 200 to 300 people. People would eat a little of Larry."
(Writing by Bill Trott in Washington; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuszinkis in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Thursday, September 27, 2012
My favourite crooner, Andy Williams, dies at 84
Legendary singer Andy Williams, known for his smooth voice and classics such as "Moon River," died after a year-long battle with bladder cancer at his Branson, Missouri, home Tuesday night, his family said.
Williams, 84, began his singing career as a child in a quartet with his brothers, but he rose to stardom as a solo act starting in the 1950s.
"The Andy Williams Show," a weekly television variety program that ran for nine years on NBC starting in 1962, and a dozen TV specials from 1959 through 1987 made Williams a household name in the United States.
He spent the last 20 years of his career performing on his own stage at his Moon River Theatre in Branson.
Jimmy Osmond said his family would be "forever grateful for the interactions we had with him."
"Not only did he discover us as a group, but also allowed us the opportunity to be discovered as individuals and develop our own talents," Osmond said.
"The clarity and warmth and grace of his singing shaped my love of music as I watched my brothers perform with him on his weekly show," Donny Osmond said.
Williams gave him several voice lessons when he was just 7, Osmond said.
"When I finally joined my brothers and toured with Andy as his opening act and back-up singers, I was always impressed with the way he handled an audience," he said. "He loved the audience. That was one of the most important lessons he taught me."
His sister, Marie Osmond, who made her TV debut on his show at age 3, said Williams was "the first person to affect my career."
"The group 'The Osmonds' would not exist without the foresight and generosity of our mentor Andy Williams," Marie Osmond said.
"No one sang more beautifully than Andy Williams," she said. "Hearing his version of 'Moon River' never failed to move me deeply. I can't imagine the holiday season without Andy Williams; we did so many specials together."
"Moon River" became his theme song after he performed it at the 1962 Academy Awards, where it won an Oscar for best song in a movie. Audrey Hepburn sang the Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini composition in the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's."
Williams' recording career reached superstar status in 1963 when his album "Days of Wine and Roses" spent 16 weeks at the top of the U.S. music charts.
His variety TV show, which promoted the careers of many other artists including the Osmonds, won high ratings and three Emmys.
Singer Ray Stevens, who was managed for years by Andy's brother Don, called him "one classy guy."
"He was a marvelously talented and generous performer who in 1970 entrusted his nationally acclaimed TV show and audience to a green kid from Georgia," Stevens said. "That kid was me, and he changed my life."
Williams hosted the first live Grammy Awards telecast at the Hollywood Palladium in 1971. He went on to host for seven years straight.
"The entertainment industry has lost a giant piece of its living history today, but Williams' legacy will forever be enshrined in the annals of music and television," said Neil Portnow, the president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. "Our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends, and all who will miss this American treasure."
The singer hosted five Christmas television specials, between 1973 and 1985, along with seven other television specials, the first in 1959 and the last in 1987.
Williams, who also had a home in La Quinta, California, is survived by his wife of 21 years, Debbie, and his three children with French singer Claudine Longet -- Robert, Noelle and Christian.
He was married to Longet from 1961 until their divorce in 1975. A year later, she was charged with the fatal shooting of her boyfriend, Olympic skier Spider Sabich.
Williams stood by Longet, who claimed the shooting was accidental. She spent a month in jail.
Williams' Branson theater was the first non-country venue built in the small Missouri tourist mecca.
He was born on December 3, 1927, in Wall Lake, Iowa, where he began singing with brothers Bob, Dick and Don in a Presbyterian church choir led by their parents.
Williams was just 8 when he made his professional singing debut with the Williams Brothers Quartet. The brothers were regular performers on radio station WHO's "Iowa's Barn Dance Show" in Des Moines. Their popularity grew, taking the brothers to national stations, including WLS in Chicago and WLW in Cincinnati.
Doris Day was his friend when they were both young and living in Cincinnati.
"He and his brothers sang and, of course, so did I, and often I would go over to their house and we would sing together," Day said Wednesday. "They asked me to join their group, but my vocal coach thought I should be out on my own, and so that's what I did."
Smokey Robinson said Williams "befriended me when I was just a teenager starting out in show business, and we remained friends throughout the years."
"I regret that we didn't have the chance to spend more time together," Robinson said. "He was one of the great voices and great people of our time."
[Source: CNN]
Monday, May 21, 2012
Robin Gibbs dies
Robin Gibb, one of three brothers who made up the disco group the Bee Gees behind "Saturday Night Fever" and other hits from the 1970s, died on Sunday, according to a statement on his website.
He was 62.
Gibb "passed away today following his long battle with caner and intestinal surgery," said the statement, which was attributed to his family.
Diagnosed with colon and liver cancer, Gibbs had been in a coma as he battled pneumonia earlier this spring, representative Doug Wright said.
Doctors believe that Gibb had a secondary tumor. Wright said April 14, confirming a news account in the UK newspaper, The Sun. Gibb had emergency surgery in 2010 for a blocked bowel and then had more surgery for a twisted bowel, Wright confirmed.
The only surviving member of the three Bee Gees is brother Barry, 65.
And younger brother, Andy Gibb, died at age 30, from a heart infection.
The Brothers Gibb - calling themselves the Bee Gees - soared to renown after the 1977 film "Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta was built around the group's falsetto voices and disco songs.
In the latter part of the 1970s, the British-born Bee Gees "dominated dance floors and airwaves. With their matching white suits, soaring high harmonies and polished, radio-friendly records, they remain one of the essential touchstones to that ultra-commercial era," The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame says on its website.
"Saturday Night Fever" and the group's 1979 album "Spirits Having Flown" yielded six No: 1 hits, "making the Bee Gees the only group in pop history to write, produce and record that many consecutive chart-topping singles," according to the Hall of Fame.
While often more in the background, Robin Gibb was the lead singer on several of Bee Gees' top tunes including "I Started A Joke" and "I've Gotta Get A Message To You." He also recorded several solo albums during his career.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, the Bee Gees sold more than 200 million albums, and their sountrack alum to "Saturday Night Fever" was the top-selling album until Michael Jackson's "Thriller" claimed that distinction in the 1980s.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
The passing of a disco icon - DONNA SUMMERS
The mere mention of Donna Summers and that would invoke nostalgic feelings of the disco era of the seventies and memories of The Tin Mine, Tomorrow Disco, The Horbit, The Glass Bubble, The Federal Disco and many other similar outlets in KL and PJ.
Grammy-winning disco legend Donna Summer, who topped the charts repeatedly in the 1970s and 80s with raunchy hits like ‘Love to Love You Baby’ and ‘Hot Stuff,’ died yesterday aged 63.
Known as the Queen of Disco, the singer whose hits also included ‘I Feel Love’ and ‘She Works Hard for the Money’, died in Florida from lung cancer, the TMZ celebrity news website said.
“Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts,” said a family statement. “While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.”
Tributes poured in within hours of her death, led by President Barack Obama who said: “Donna truly was the ‘Queen of Disco’. Her voice was unforgettable, and the music industry has lost a legend far too soon.”
“Truly that will be her legacy, she was the Disco Queen,” soul legend Aretha Franklin told CNN.
Barbra Streisand, with whom Summer duetted on 1979's ‘No More Tears (Enough is Enough)’, said she was “shocked” at the news.
“She was so vital the last time I saw her a few months ago. I loved doing the duet with her. She had an amazing voice and was so talented. .. It’s so sad,” she said in a statement.
In Hollywood, flowers were placed on her sidewalk star on the storied Hollywood Walk of Fame, across the street from the world-famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Summer, who also became something of an icon in the gay community, shot to fame during the disco era of the 1970s with hits like ‘MacArthur Park’, ‘Hot Stuff’ and ‘Bad Girls’.
The orgasmic-sounding ‘Love to Love You Baby’, released in 1975, was one of the first disco songs to be released in extended form, giving full vent to Summer’s erotic moans and groans.
In the 1980s her hits included ‘She Works Hard for the Money’ and ‘State of Independence’.
The disco diva was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines into a large devoutly Christian family in Boston and started singing in the local church, before performing in a number of Motown-influenced groups in her teens.
Summer took her stage name after marrying Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer in 1972, anglicising her name after divorcing him. She spoke fluent German and the couple had a daughter, Mimi Sommer.
Winner of five Grammy awards
The singer won five Grammy awards during her spectacular career, including in 1980 for best rock female vocalist for the 1979 ‘Hot Stuff’, but also as recently as 1997 for best dance recording for ‘Carry On’.
She holds the record for most consecutive double albums to top the Billboard charts - three - and first female with four No 1 singles in a 12-month period, three solo and one with Barbra Streisand, according to the IMDb website.
‘Hot Stuff’ also got a boost from being used in the 1997 hit movie ‘The Full Monty’, as the track to which a group of unemployed British steel workers performed a striptease act.
TMZ reported that she had kept her illness quiet, and didn’t appear too sick only a couple of weeks ago, citing sources as saying she was focused on trying to finish a new album she had been working on.
It cited sources as saying Summer believed she developed lung cancer after inhaling toxic particles following the Sept 11, 2001 al-Qaeda attacks in New York.
Harry Casey, lead singer and ‘KC’ of fellow disco greats KC and the Sunshine Band, said he was stunned.
“I saw her several months ago at a performance, she looked great, she sang great, her performance was amazing. We got together backstage and had some good laughs and walked down memory lane.
“I’m just in shock. I had no idea anything was wrong.”
- AFP
Grammy-winning disco legend Donna Summer, who topped the charts repeatedly in the 1970s and 80s with raunchy hits like ‘Love to Love You Baby’ and ‘Hot Stuff,’ died yesterday aged 63.
Known as the Queen of Disco, the singer whose hits also included ‘I Feel Love’ and ‘She Works Hard for the Money’, died in Florida from lung cancer, the TMZ celebrity news website said.
“Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts,” said a family statement. “While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.”
Tributes poured in within hours of her death, led by President Barack Obama who said: “Donna truly was the ‘Queen of Disco’. Her voice was unforgettable, and the music industry has lost a legend far too soon.”
“Truly that will be her legacy, she was the Disco Queen,” soul legend Aretha Franklin told CNN.
Barbra Streisand, with whom Summer duetted on 1979's ‘No More Tears (Enough is Enough)’, said she was “shocked” at the news.
“She was so vital the last time I saw her a few months ago. I loved doing the duet with her. She had an amazing voice and was so talented. .. It’s so sad,” she said in a statement.
In Hollywood, flowers were placed on her sidewalk star on the storied Hollywood Walk of Fame, across the street from the world-famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Summer, who also became something of an icon in the gay community, shot to fame during the disco era of the 1970s with hits like ‘MacArthur Park’, ‘Hot Stuff’ and ‘Bad Girls’.
The orgasmic-sounding ‘Love to Love You Baby’, released in 1975, was one of the first disco songs to be released in extended form, giving full vent to Summer’s erotic moans and groans.
In the 1980s her hits included ‘She Works Hard for the Money’ and ‘State of Independence’.
The disco diva was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines into a large devoutly Christian family in Boston and started singing in the local church, before performing in a number of Motown-influenced groups in her teens.
Summer took her stage name after marrying Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer in 1972, anglicising her name after divorcing him. She spoke fluent German and the couple had a daughter, Mimi Sommer.
Winner of five Grammy awards
The singer won five Grammy awards during her spectacular career, including in 1980 for best rock female vocalist for the 1979 ‘Hot Stuff’, but also as recently as 1997 for best dance recording for ‘Carry On’.
She holds the record for most consecutive double albums to top the Billboard charts - three - and first female with four No 1 singles in a 12-month period, three solo and one with Barbra Streisand, according to the IMDb website.
‘Hot Stuff’ also got a boost from being used in the 1997 hit movie ‘The Full Monty’, as the track to which a group of unemployed British steel workers performed a striptease act.
TMZ reported that she had kept her illness quiet, and didn’t appear too sick only a couple of weeks ago, citing sources as saying she was focused on trying to finish a new album she had been working on.
It cited sources as saying Summer believed she developed lung cancer after inhaling toxic particles following the Sept 11, 2001 al-Qaeda attacks in New York.
Harry Casey, lead singer and ‘KC’ of fellow disco greats KC and the Sunshine Band, said he was stunned.
“I saw her several months ago at a performance, she looked great, she sang great, her performance was amazing. We got together backstage and had some good laughs and walked down memory lane.
“I’m just in shock. I had no idea anything was wrong.”
- AFP
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Deja-vu Teoh: Customs officer probed for graft falls to death at MACC buildin
In a harsh throwback to the tragic death of Selangor political aide Teoh Beng Hock, another body has been found dead outside the building of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
This time, the place is Jalan Cochrane in Kuala Lumpur and the the person who died is a Customs officer, an assistant director of the Selangor Customs Department who had been under investigation for graft allegedly involving billions of ringgit in unpaid taxes.
He was released on bail two days ago and is believed to have fallen off the third floor of the MACC building, where he had gone to meet the agency's investigation officer. His body was discovered on Wednesday morning.
According to MACC director of investigations Mustafar Ali, the investigator had told the Customs officer to wait while he went to collect a file pertaining to the case. When he returned, he found the Customs officer missing.
Meanwhile, Pakatan Rakyat leaders called on Prime Minister Najib Razak to act swiftly and neutrally before public confidence in the nation's enforcement agencies plunged further.
"It looks suspicious because the 'victim' was out on bail. Whatever it is, we want completely fair and neutral investigations," Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah told Malaysia Chronicle.
"A special police task force must be set and it must be at arms length with the MACC. We don't want any collusion like in the Teoh Beng Hock case, where there were obviously feelings of partisanship and the wish to help and cover up for each other."
Corruption unlimited
Last week, a total of 62 Customs officers had been arrested in a joint operation in Penang, Johor, Selangor and Pahang by a task force comprising the MACC, the Inland Revenue Board, the Customs Department and Bank Negara.
One officer was found to have several million ringgit in his bank account while another had almost RM1 million. Two others had more than RM500,000 each. Two imitation pistols with more than 200 rounds of bullet as well as fireworks and illicit cigarettes were also recovered from another senior officer's house.
“Our officers even found gold bars stashed in the house of one of the officers while another had more than RM600,000 in several bags in his house," MACC's Mustafar (right) had told reporters at a press conference on Saturday.
But the glory has been overtaken by Wednesday's macabre discovery. The MACC is now scheduled to hold a press conference to clarify the incident this afternoon.
Meanwhile, the office of Customs director-general Mohamed Khalid Yusuf confirmed the news that one of its senior officers had died.
“Ya, (Customs) confirms the incident occurred. (Mohamad Khalid) was shocked when he heard the report,” his special officer Masrul Amri Kamaruddin was reported as saying.
While details are not fully revealed yet, it is hard for an already cynical public not to think the worst of the MACC, the police and the Najib administration.
Through the decades, top leaders from the ruling Umno party have ridden roughshod over the government institutions, compelling them to act in their favour rather than independently and neutrally.
Najib set the example with Perak abuse
Najib's own abuse of power during the 2009 Perak coup d'etat was the most evident case, where he misused the judiciary with impunity, forcing the courts to uphold decisions that clearly contradicted the federal constituion.
From then on, public confidence in him and the government declined. Foreign investors too bailed out in droves, plunging Malaysia's FDI receipts by 81 per cent in 2009.
Apart from Perak, Najib also spearheaded an Umno plot to wrest back the Selangor state government from the Pakatan Rakyat.
This time instead of defections, the plan was to 'frame' Pakatan legislative assemblymen in Selangor for corruption, force them to quit their parties and become BN-friendly independents.
Teoh Beng Hock was a fresh-faced 30-year old political aide to Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong, a senior executive councillor.
On July 15, 2009, he was hauled up for questioning as a witness into allegations about Ean's corruption. But like the Customs officer, Beng Hock never left the MACC building alive.
He is believed to have fallen to his death from the 14th floor office of the MACC building in Shah Alam. The MACC insisted he committed suicide, while his family and colleagues were sure it was homicide.
After 18-months, a long drawn-out public inquest delivered an open verdict. The Coroner said it was neither suicide or homicide.
And only after tremendous public pressure did Najib finally agree to hold a Royal Commission of Inquiry, but again the terms of reference were controversial and sparked accusations that it would achieve nothing, but whitewash the entire incident to protect the MACC conspiracy with Selangor Umno.
[Source: MC]
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