Helping in an emergency part of the job, say fishermen

PETALING JAYA: The 20 people who survived the crippling heat and cold during the 30-hour ordeal at sea have an Indonesian fishing boat crew to thank for their lives.

The fishermen were sailing on the Semarang waters off Sabah when they heard people calling out for help on Sunday between 4pm and 5pm.

The seven-man crew – La Rahe Lakule, Noval Sufiadin, La Mohamad, La Yanto, La Dia, Sufiadin Setiawan and Riko Suwadi – turned heroes when they rescued the 20 survivors of the boat tragedy in Sabah.

La Rahe, the skipper, led the Indonesian crew to rescue the survivors from 5pm to 7pm. They also retrieved the bodies of three Chinese tourists.

The fishing boat then made a seven-hour journey back to Kota Kinabalu, arriving at 1.45am.

Chia Pu Yap, the owner of the fishing boat JN 4563/2/F, instructed the crew to cook hot food for the survivors during the journey.

“They must have been starving after drifting at sea for more than 24 hours,” he said in an interview with Sin Chew Daily.

Chia, who was celebrating Chinese New Year in the peninsula at the time, said his crew contacted him about the discovery on Saturday afternoon via other fishing boats.

Fishing boats always stay in contact with each other via walkie-talkies and stay ready to help in the event of an emergency, he said.

He was informed by his crew that his fishing boat was the only one around that area at that time. Chia immediately instructed his crew to save every person they could.

“Those of us who make a living on the sea will always help each other out. In the case of accidents, we will definitely lend a helping hand. All fishing boats will do so,” he said.

Chia also contacted the police through his friend so the authorities were waiting at the jetty when the boat carrying the survivors and the bodies arrived at Kota Kinabalu on Monday morning.