A new lease of life. This is what all the 47 Malaysian detainees in Cambodia are getting after their release from Banteay Meanchey Provincial Prison in that country last Friday. They should value the second chance they have been given in life and avoid making the same mistakes which could land them in jail in any country again.
The Sarawak government’s representatives and Wisma Putra officials have played a big role and worked hard to secure their release from the prison. Sarawak sent a delegation led by Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah to Cambodia to negotiate the release of the detainees.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said that the Sarawak government would also bear all the costs of bring home the Sarawakians released from the prison.
He also thanked the Cambodian government, Prime Minister Hun Sen and all his Cabinet ministers and officials involved in handling the case.
Forty three of the detainees (40 from Sarawak and 3 from Sabah) boarded a chartered flight namely JC International Airlines, from Seam Reap direct to Kuching International Airport (KIA) yesterday.
Four other detainees from Selangor and Kuala Lumpur boarded an AirAsia flight from Seam Reap International Airport to Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) yesterday.
On their arrival at KIA yesterday, many of the detainees were accorded a warm and tearful welcome.
Yusuf Islam Abdul Halik, 21, is one of the detainees and his mother Zunita Sedini had been praying hard for his release. Even as negotiations for their release were ongoing, she told New Sarawak Tribune that she, as a mother, and all the parents of the detainees would definitely hold a big welcome home ceremony for their children.
According to Zunita, her son was promised an electrical job in Cambodia.
For the past one week or so, members of the public, particularly readers of the New Sarawak Tribune, have been reading about the plight of the unlucky 47 Malaysians who were arrested in Cambodia for allegedly running an illegal gambling operation there.
On Feb 7, the Foreign Ministry confirmed the arrest of the 47 who included nine women. They were arrested on Dec 11 last year in Poi Pet, Bantey Meanchey for allegedly being members of an international online gambling syndicate.
The Malaysian Embassy was informed about the arrest on Dec 28, more than two weeks after the arrest and its officials have been visiting the detainees to check on their well-being.
According to a Bernama report, most of the Malaysians had gone to Cambodia to look for jobs
Not everyone in this world gets a new lease of life or a second chance in life. It is hoped that the men and women who have returned home from Cambodia will learn well from their experience and ordeal. We all live but once and so we must value our lives.
If the Malaysian and Sarawak governments have not stepped in to negotiate for their release, the future of the 47 Malaysians aged between 19 and 44 could have been bleak. They would have languished in the prison for years and come out changed persons for the worse.
Promises of lucrative salaries had lured the 47 Malaysians to work in Cambodia. They were each promised a monthly salary of $1,500, which is equivalent to RM6,117.
This is understandable because everyone loves money and big salaries which can buy us many things in life and make life comfortable for ourselves and our families
Instead , according to detainee Aron Naldy Muhummad Ting Abdullah, 22, from Sibu, who was interviewed by the Khmer Times English newspaper, when they landed in Poipet, Banteay Meanchey province in Cambodia, the Malaysians were treated like bonded slaves.
He added:” We were made to work from 8am to 4pm daily, learning on a tablet how online gambling works. We were not allowed to go out or speak to anyone outside the house. They confiscated our phones and personal documents when we first arrived at the house.
“When we asked about our salaries, we were told they would be banked into our accounts and that we can check them when we return to Malaysia during the Chinese New Year break.”
Aron had learned about the job opening in Cambodia through a group on social messaging service WeChat.
When he was interviewed by the newspaper, Aron had only one request. “Please bring us home,” he pleaded to the Malaysian government.
The young man’s wish was fulfilled yesterday when he rejoined his family in Sibu.
In an interview with New Sarawak Tribune, Zunita, who was also reunited with her son Yusuf yesterday, had advised job seekers to be careful.
“If your child tells you that there is a lucrative job offer overseas, just ask him or her to reject it, ” she said, adding that it was better to work in their own hometowns and not to trust any job offers that were too good to be true.
We are happy and grateful to God that the story of the 47 Malaysians ended well. Their story will, however, remind many of us for years to come of the jeopardy that awaits trusting and unsuspecting job seekers overseas.
