KUALA LUMPUR: Family members have lodged four missing persons reports with the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department in recent months in efforts to locate their loved ones.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department chief Datuk Seri Michael Chong said that family members have no choice but to get help from the public.
Chong brought up the case of Francis Devasagayam T. A. Pilavendran, 66, who was suffering from mental illness and under medication when he went missing on July 22.
"When a mental patient gets lost, people may think that they are beggars or drug addicts because they may be sleeping everywhere, and will not help them," said Chong.
"This person needs help because he has mental problem and is under medication," said Chong at a press conference at his office here on Monday.
Francis went missing on July 22 after travelling alone from Malacca to Hospital Tuanku Ja'afar Seremban by bus to visit a sick relative and to meet his sister.
But Francis never met with his sister P. Thamarai Selvi Sarkunamary.
"I got a call at around 7.30pm saying that he got lost in a jungle after he got off the bus near the hospital. He said that the surroundings was dark and he couldn't see anything," said Thamarai.
The call was the last time she spoke to her elder brother, and subsequent calls to his phone went straight to voicemail.
Another complainant Selvie Subramaniam is looking for her missing husband Anthony Michael Frances, 59, who left the family home in January 1995 and never returned.
According to the family, Anthony was an alcoholic and suffers from epilepsy.
He was admitted to a hospital in Kuala Kubu Baru in 2005 and then transferred to a rehabilitation centre for alcoholism at Desa Bina Diri in Pahang.
Anthony fully recovered in 2013 and was sent to work as a labourer at a resort in Teluk Gorek, Mersing, Johor.
However, the centre told the family that the resort he was working at had shut down and his whereabouts could not be traced.
"He has been missing for quite some time. If he's alive, we will welcome him back. My mother is getting old and wants to meet with her brother again, that is why we are starting our search for him again," said Anthony's niece Sharen Sahayamarie.
Chong also brought up two previously reported missing persons cases that have still not received any headway.
Wan Pik Kei, 24, was last heard from her family on October 30 last year.
Wan worked as a clerk at a home appliance shop in Taman Connaught and was transferred to a new branch at Skudai, Johor on Oct 3 last year.
She sent her mother a WhatsApp message on Oct 29 about her rented room in Skudai and said that everything was going well.
It was the last time her family had heard from her.
Man Siew Lin, 71, is said to suffer from depression and ran away from Selayang Hospital on Sept 26 last year.
Man stayed at an old folks home in Damansara Perdana and ran away when staff members were collecting her medication from the hospital pharmacy.
Her older sister had previously told the media that she promised to take care of her sister and pleaded for anyone with information to come forward.
Chong says that anyone with information about the four missing persons cases can contact the nearest police station or call Lee from the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department at 03-22033888.
