Sabahans return home after release from Cambodia jail
KOTA KINABALU: Three Sabahans who were among the 47 Malaysians detained in Cambodia after they were duped by a job agency syndicate, returned home last night.
Chong Su Kyun, 37, from Kota Marudu, Jeffrydean Jude, 19, from Keningau, and Philip Ho Chee Chin, 25, from Keningau, arrived on an AirAsia flight, AK6352, from Kuching at 11.30pm.
They were welcomed by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman.
All the Malaysians were released from Banteay Meanchey Provincial Prison last Friday after being arrested since December, last year.
Earlier yesterday, 40 Sarawakians and four West Malaysians were reunited with their families after they arrived at the Kuching International Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2).
All of them have learned a valuable lesson for accepting offers of well-paid jobs abroad via a smartphone app, WeChat, without stopping to think it may be a scam.
Yap Yu Xiang, 25, from Kuala Lumpur, said he never saw an agent offering jobs in that country because everything was done via the app, WeChat.
“When I agreed to accept a job offer with a salary of up to US$1,200 (RM4,902) per month, I was asked to pay US$500 as a fee to arrange my trip there,” he said.
After making the payment, Yap said the agent had sent a flight ticket to Cambodia through the WeChat app and he then flew to the country in Oct last year.
Yap said when he got there he was taken to a three-storey bungalow with a swimming pool.
“There I was locked up in the bungalow until I was arrested by the Cambodian authorities on Dec 11,” he said.
Yap said it never crossed his mind that he would be sold but was powerless to do anything or even report the matter as his mobile phone had been confiscated.