'Blow for Sabah tourism if threat carried out'
Published on: Thursday, August 27, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The Malaysian Government should not take lightly the threat to behead one of the two Sandakan hostages held in the Southern Philippines since May this year.Sabah PKR Deputy Chief Christina Liew made the call in the wake of media reports that Chan Wai See, the wife of kidnap victim Bernard Then Ted Fen, told the Home Ministry that the beheading threat was conveyed to her in a phone conversation with her husband last Saturday evening.Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, and Bernard, 39, were snatched from the Ocean King Seafood Restaurant in Sandakan on May 14 and taken to Jolo by gunmen who later demanded a ransom.
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Liew, who is Api Api Assemblywoman, said it would be a sad day for tourism in Sabah if the Abu Sayyaf militants were to carry out their threat. Bernard was a domestic tourist when the incident happened."It is into the fourth month since the episode with no solution in sight. As time is running out, the Government cannot afford to drag its feet but should exert greater effort to secure the safe release of the two victims. Please expedite the process as their lives are at stake – a matter of life and death," she said.Liew contended that the fear expressed by the families was founded, going by AFP's report last week that a Filipino barangay (village) official, Rodolfo Boligao, who had been held hostage by militants since May, was found beheaded on a highway on Jolo Island.On Monday, the victims' next-of-kin met with Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed at his office in Putrajaya.
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Nur Jazlan said the police are working closely with the authorities in the Philippines to locate the whereabouts of two Malaysians.He said it was quite difficult to track the kidnappers as they were constantly on the move, shifting to a new location every few days.
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"It is not easy to track them and in this case, the Filipino authorities play a greater role because we believe the victims are within the jurisdiction of their security forces," said Nur Jazlan.The meeting was held with Chan Wai See, 40, who is the wife of victim, Bernard Then, and Chang Chin Lung, 32, who is the son of another victim, Thien.Pertaining to the meeting, Nur Jazlan said he told the family members the Government would maintain its policy of "not paying the ransom" but that it would continue to try to rescue and free the victims by means of negotiations."The family members requested the ministry to try to rescue both the victims as soon as possible and I conveyed the words of sympathy from Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the ministry will do its best to help return them to their respective families," he said.Meanwhile, Chan said she and Chang hoped the ministry could do something to save the victims, as the health of Thien, who is suffering from high blood pressure, had worsened.Chan was informed about the matter by her husband through a phone call she received on Saturday evening, in which the victim also asked when the both of them would be rescued, she said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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