Netizens take up fight for Sandakan hostages' release

Thien (left) and Then are being held by Abu Sayyaf militants in Jolo, Southern Philippines.

PETALING JAYA: Four months after two Malaysians were kidnapped from a seaside restaurant in Sandakan, netizens have taken up the fight to get them released. 

An online petition has been initiated to highlight the plight of Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, and Bernard Then Ted Fun, 39, who are being held by Abu Sayyaf militants in Jolo, Southern Philippines.

The “Bring Our Malaysian Hostages Home” plea on ipetitions.com has been signed more than 4000 times since it was created on Tuesday.

“We plead with the Government of Malaysia to speed up the process of securing the release of our fellow Malaysians, and bring them home safely as soon as possible,” read the petition.

“We hope to achieve our target of 100,000 signatures for our petition to be handed to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, with the hope that his personal intervention will expedite the process of securing the freedom of both hostages,” it added.

Thien, 50, and Then, 39, were abducted from the Ocean King seafood restaurant, just 3km from Sandakan, in mid-May.

Thien was the restaurant manager while Then was on a holiday. The health of both hostages are reported to be deteriorating.

Then’s wife Chan Wai See had received a call last month from the kidnappers, who threatened to behead her husband if the ransom was not paid.

Their families are having sleepless nights amid recent reports of beheadings and military raids there.

The Abu Sayyaf beheaded a Filipino village chief on Aug 11 after his family failed to come up with the one million pesos (RM91,220) ransom.

The village chief was kidnapped on May 4 along with two coast guards.