Murder of Bernard Then draws attention of Dewan Rakyat

The murder of Malaysian Bernard Then Ted Fen, who was kidnapped by four armed men in Sandakan, Sabah last May has drawn the attention of several members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday.

Datuk Jumat Idris (BN-Sepanggar) said the issue of abduction and kidnapping by terrorists from the southern Philippines in Sabah needed to be given serious attention to avoid future similar crimes.

"We call upon the foreign minister to raise this issue to the ASEAN level and demand clear commitment from the Philippine government. Not only us, they also need to safeguard their borders.

"We spend hundreds of millions of Ringgit to set up ESSCom (Eastern Sabah Security Command) to protect our waters. The Philippines should jointly maintain border areas to tackle transnational crimes. It will affect tourism as well as the fishing industry," he said.

He said this when debating the Supplementary Supply Bill 2016 at the committee level for the foreign ministry at the Dewan Rakyat, here.

Idris Ahmad (PAS-Bukit Gantang) said although the murder was linked to Islamic militants, real Muslims would never engage in an act of cruelty.

"This is not the real Islamic teaching. Islam does not teach its followers to do such things even to non-Muslims. This is unacceptable and must be prevented," he said.

Earlier, Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee on behalf of the MPs, expressed condolences to the families of Bernard Then.

The Singapore Straits Times on its online news at www.straitstimes.com reported that "Brigadier-General Alan Arrojado, commander of the Joint Task Group Sulu said Bernard Then was beheaded at around 4pm at a remote Abu Sayyaf stronghold in Jolo island in Sulu province, some 1,400km south of the capital Manila.

On May 14, Bernard Then, 39, an electrical engineer and a Malaysian woman Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, were kidnapped by four armed men, who stormed the Ocean King Restaurant in Sandakan at 7.45pm.

On Nov 8, Thien, the manager of the restaurant, was released by the abductors following negotiations with the Malaysian authorities.