Security lapses and abductions

Sometimes our elected representatives throw us a pleasant surprise. This time it came in the form of a common stand in our fractious Parliament.

I am glad to note that both Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament and Opposition MPs spoke out against the lack of adequate security measures, or security lapses, in Sabah.

It is one of those very rare occasions when MPs from the ruling party and the Opposition find themselves on the same page, and this was one of those occasions.

Even Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz criticised the level of security in Sabah following the kidnapping of a Chinese tourist and a Filipino worker on Singamata Island off Semporna, Sabah, last Wednesday.

Police said tourist Gao Hua Yuan, 29, from Shanghai, China, and a female resort worker from the Philippines, Marcy Dayawan, 40, were abducted from the Singamata Adventures Reef and Resort, near Semporna, by seven armed men.

According to the police, the armed men arrived on a speedboat and seized the tourist from the balcony of her room. Police said they suspect the group had help from someone at the resort.

Police said the men sped off to the southern Philippines. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said its maritime security and anti-kidnapping units were working with Malaysian police to find the two women.

Nazri certainly knows how important security is to tourists. If foreigners don’t feel safe being in Malaysia, they will not come here with their tourist dollars.

And Singgahmata Island is one of the top international diving destinations.

“This is not the first time this has happened. The arrangements in place should have ensured it did not happen. If we want tourists to come here, we must ensure that they feel secure and security has to be at the best,” the media quoted him as saying on April 8.

Last year, we had 25.72 million visitors who spent RM65.44 billion, according to Tourism Malaysia. That’s a significant number and a significant amount in revenue for the country.

Sabah is a popular tourist destination. It is also a short boat ride from the southern Philippines, a known hangout of kidnappers and militants. These criminals and militants are believed to flee to Sabah whenever they are under siege by the Philippine authorities, returning to their bases when the coast is clear.

But it is not just about tourism. Our own people must feel safe. There simply have been too many incidents of foreigners gaining entry into our country or going in and out without being detected.

Apart from the criminals, according to reports, there are many people from the Philippines who are in Sabah illegally. How they do it so blatantly is very worrying. Is our border security so bad?

There were two instances of kidnapping in this area last year. On Aug 27, about 20 armed men abducted nine Malaysian fishermen from two boats near Mabul Island. Fortunately, the captives tricked the gunmen into sailing to a General Operations Force post nearby. The gunmen freed their victims and fled.

On Nov 15, armed men raided three water villas at Pom Pom Island, killing Taiwanese tourist Hsu Lin Min, 57, and abducting his wife Chang An Wei, 58. She was freed after 36 days on the southern Philippine island of Jolo.

On Nov 14, 2012, locals Tung Wee Jie and Wee Wei were abducted from Lahad Datu. Wee Jie, 26, escaped after being held captive for almost nine months on Jolo Island but his cousin Wee Wei died in captivity.

Among the more well-known cases is the abduction of 21 people from Pulau Sipadan on April 23, 2000, by Abu Sayyaf militants. The victims endured hell for six months on Jolo Island. They were released in batches, the last being freed on Sept 11 that year.

So, as Nazri observed, the abduction of Gao and Marcy was not the first case. No wonder both BN and Pakatan Rakyat MPs stood up to castigate the authorities.

Especially since the government established the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) last year, in the wake of the Feb 12, 2013 intrusion into Kg Tanduo, Lahad Datu, by more than 100 armed Filipinos who wanted to reclaim Sabah in the name of the Sulu Sultanate.

How that group managed to get in, and was allowed so much leeway, is still being talked about by the public.

I read that the government allocated RM275 million to ESSCOM to tighten security. How is the money being spent? One question that arises is how the seven armed men could so easily get through the increased security presence after the Kg Tanduo incident.

The good news is that the Royal Malaysian Navy said on April 8 that it would increase its presence in the area to help prevent abductions. Let’s hope there are no more abductions at least.