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*Review of “Where is Pastor Raymond Koh?” by Stephen Ng and Lee Hwa Beng*

Why did Lee Hwa Beng and Stephen Ng write the book “Where is Raymond Koh?” which was launched in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday this week?

Stephen says the book is “a complete record of this blight [the enforced disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh] that should trouble every right-thinking member of our society.” They hope the book will strengthen “citizenry’s resolution to fight the scourge of enforced disappearances.”

They “present all the facts … [to enable] the reader to form his own conclusion on what happened to Raymond Koh.”

They mostly relied on the Notes of Proceedings (NoP) and Final Reports of the Suhakam Inquiry. They also used interviews and news reports.

The NoP is unique to the Amri/Raymond Inquiry. No prior inquiries by statutory bodies have transcripts of every word said during hearings.

This is because the subjects of earlier inquiries were “seedy” characters like suspected thieves and politicians (smile). They didn’t have friends who spend much time and resources to help the underrepresented.

Because many of his Christian friends considered Raymond a “wonderful” disciple of Christ, they undertook to fund production of the NoP. Some non-Christians also chipped in.

Thanks to the NoP, we have extensive data adduced under oath, with cross-examination. This is a rich source of information about the interaction between religious, politics and statutory bodies.

Raymond is a Christian who helped poor people beset by HIV/AIDS, drug addiction, poverty and so on. Many of them were Muslims.

In Malaysia, state religious authorities use “good works” to entice non-Muslims to become Muslims. So, when they see Christians doing “good works” for Muslims, they think Christians are similarly motivated.

The book tells the story of Raymond. He grew up poor. He never had toys. In early life he was mah-jong obsessed. He was a maker of moulds for plastic goods. He was musically gifted.

He was transformed when he became a disciple of Christ. He was committed to prayer, Bible-reading, service and so on. He worked in the engine room of a ship on which he was also a welder.

The book tells us what prompted him to do social work and the strict rules he established for his volunteers to assure they would never proselytize.

He and Susanna went from disliking each other to falling madly in love several years later and becoming husband and wife. This makes it especially poignant that he was abducted on the eve of Valentine’s Day, which they unfailingly celebrated.

He was targeted by Selangor religious authorities and by federal authorities. He was harassed at Malaysian immigration checkpoints. He was tailed. He received a death threat, with live bullets. He reported it, but the police never charged anyone.

The book tells of his abduction and the initial and later responses of the police and the public. It tells of abuses of police power. They ignored valid lines of inquiry. They instead probed his alleged proselytizing. They seized evidence without warrants, interviewed children without guardians’ present, took statements without issuing cautions prescribed by law.

Two months after he was abducted, an NGO made a report about a supposed attempt by him to proselytize Muslims. This was probably orchestrated by the state to turn moderate Muslims against advocating for justice for him. (It was as if the state had concluded there was no way to credibly challenge the conclusion of all who watched the video of his abduction: “the police did it.”)

The book details numerous inconsistencies in what is plainly a police cover-up of their involvement and failures related to his disappearance.

The authors wrote under a shadow of fear – they say “it took courage” to write the book. They urge readers to weigh the evidence and “decide.” One of the implicit messages of the book is that even senior politicians like Lee (BN-MCA) fear the state.

The book includes a list of characters with short notes about each one; this is a useful overview of key players in numerous despicable acts and in the awesome responses to them. Sadly, the list omits many non-Christian lawyers and civil society actors.

Equally valuable is a timeline of key events, beginning with the abduction.

The book includes a replica of the notes Amri’s wife hand-wrote after a police whistle-blower, late one evening in Kangar, gave her information about police involvement in the Amri and Raymond abductions. This evidence was a turning point in the case. Without it, Suhakam may not have worded its conclusion so strongly: “[Raymond Koh] was abducted by State agents namely, the Special Branch, Bukit Aman.”

Philip Koh, a senior lawyer who has appeared before the courts in many high-profile cases about religious freedom, has contributed an afterword.

Philip – who inspired and pulled together much critical support for Raymond’s family – addresses some key questions of faith, including this one: “How do we distinguish a true martyr from one who is an adventurer and provocateur against the order of his society?” Philip’s short essay is the product of deep meditation and calls for deep meditation.

The book is well structured and easy to read. It has many photos and even scannable weblinks. It is grounded in the Notes of Proceedings.

I welcome it as another means of catalyzing citizens to rid Malaysia of the scourge of enforced disappearances: high-handed non-judicial actions by the state to delete ‘inconvenient’ individuals.

I hope it will spur citizens to press the Inspector General of Police and the government to discipline and prosecute errant officers and answer the question everyone is asking: “Where is Raymond Koh?”

Rama Ramanathan
Spokesperson
Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (CAGED)

https://write2rest.blogspot.com/2019/07/review-of-where-is-raymond-koh-by-lee.html

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