Bernard Then's ashes arrive home

The ashes of Bernard Then Ted Fen, a Malaysian engineer who was killed in the southern Philippines last year, arrived at the KL International Airport at 6.50pm Saturday via a Malaysia Airlines flight.

Wan Khalik Wan Mohamad, Special Assistant to Chief Minister of Sarawak Tan Sri Adenan Satem, said the ashes were sent to the St Francis Xavier Church in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya, near here.

"Tonight, the family will hold a prayer ceremony at the church before tomorrow's memorial service for family members and friends of the deceased.

"The funeral mass will be held at the same church and the ashes will be interred the Subang Lutheran Garden in Subang Permai at 10am on Monday," he said when contacted by Bernama Saturday.

Last Thursday, five of Then's family members along with Sarawak Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah and Wan Khalik went to Manila, to accompany Then's parents for the cremation ceremony at the Pasay City Crematorium.

Bernard, a Sarawakian, was kidnapped from a seafood restaurant in Sandakan, Sabah, on May 14 last year, along with the restaurant manager Thein Nyuk Fun, 50, by armed men believed to be linked with a militant group in the southern Philippines.

Fen was released by his captors on Nov 8, while Bernard, 39, was beheaded at a remote location on the island of Jolo, in southern Philippines, on Nov 11.