News of beheadings and raids adds to relatives’ worries

PETALING JAYA: It has been 100 days since Thien Nyuk Fun and Bernard Then Ted Fen were snatched from a floating restaurant in Sandakan.

Thien, 50, and Then, 39, are being held by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Jolo, southern Philippines.

The duo’s families are getting even more worried amid recent reports of beheadings and military raids there.

“There is nothing we can do. We hope the government can help us,” said Chung Chin Lung, Thien’s son.

Chung, 31, said his mother has high blood pressure and suffers from other medical conditions too. Her condition is said to be deteriorating rapidly in the jungle and this has caused his grandmother to worry even more.

“My grandmother has lost her appetite. She is very thin now,” said Chung.

Thien, the restaurant manager, and Then, a Sarawakian on holiday, were abducted from the Ocean King Seafood Restaurant on May 14 and taken to Jolo by gunmen who later demanded a ransom.

Desperate for contact: Chan (left) and Chung holding photos of their kidnapped loved ones.

The last time their family members had contact with them was at the end of June. Since then, the police have been handling the case, said Chan Wai See, Then’s wife.

“We have been told that they are being moved from place to place very frequently. The situation in the Philippines is very uncertain,” she said between sobs.

Chan, 40, said her parents-in-law were very worried and called her every day to find out about their son.

“I can’t given them much information and can only try to comfort them,” she said.

Abu Sayyaf beheaded a Filipino village chief on Aug 11 after his family failed to come up with the one million pesos (RM892,000) ransom.

The village chief was kidnapped on May 4 along with two other coast guard personnel.