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Hadi Azmi

Joseph Sipalan

Five months after she was snatched from a car in broad daylight in Malaysia, little is known about the disappearance of Pamela Ling, with a “chilling” lack of clarity in the case sparking calls for a wider investigation.
Ling, 42, was kidnapped on April 9 by three people believed to have impersonated police, forcing her into their vehicle after stopping her private hire car on the highway not far from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters.
The victim was on her way to the commission’s office to give a statement as a witness in a corruption investigation involving her and her tycoon husband when she was taken. She remains missing despite Malaysia’s request for aid from Interpol.
The government on August 20 said police had taken statements from 48 witnesses, including four MACC officers, in a bid to find leads into Ling’s disappearance.
But police had not provided further updates, MACC Chief Commissioner Azam Baki told reporters on Tuesday.
The lack of progress was “chilling”, said human rights activist Jerald Joseph from Pusat Komas, who questioned the commitment to finding Ling.
“People deserve to know the progress. It’s time we set up a national task force to resolve all disappearance cases,” said Joseph, who was a former commissioner of Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).
He referred to previous disappearances of pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat, which echoed Ling’s case.
Koh and Amri disappeared in 2017 after both were abducted by groups of men in what was described as appearing like a police operation. Their whereabouts remained unknown and no ransom was demanded from the abductors.
“A modern nation like Malaysia cannot allow the perception that such disappearances can happen,” Joseph added.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told parliament that authorities are also investigating claims the car used to kidnap Ling was found near the Malaysia-Thailand border in Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah state.
Saifuddin’s updates, however, merely repeated earlier statements by police and did little to shed new light on Ling’s case, her family said.
“There have been zero leads uncovered, and Pamela’s family remains completely in the dark regarding any developments,” the family’s lawyer, Sangeet Kaur Deo, said in a statement on August 21.
Little is known about a possible motive or who could have been responsible for Ling’s brazen kidnapping.
A month after she went missing, police arrested her husband, tycoon Thomas Hah Tiing Siu. But the 54-year-old was released and authorities have yet to give a reason for his arrest, which came a day after police confirmed they were looking into the possibility that he played a role in his wife’s disappearance.
Both Hah and Ling have been under a year-long corruption and money laundering investigation by the MACC.
Ling had filed for a divorce in Singapore, where she and their three children live, two days before she was kidnapped. Hah filed for separate divorce proceedings in Malaysia.


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Where is Malaysia’s Pamela Ling? Few clues 5 months after kidnap drama

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Pamela Ling was kidnapped on April 9 by three people believed to have impersonated police. Photo: Handout

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Pamela Ling was kidnapped while en route to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters on April 9. Photo: The Star

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Activist groups call for a national task force to find the corruption witness, who went missing before she could give a statement


Activist groups call for a national task force to find the corruption witness, who went missing before she could give a statement.


Crime

Saifuddin Nasution Ismail

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)

Where is Malaysia’s Pamela Ling? Few clues 5 months after kidnap drama

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Activist groups call for a national task force to find the corruption witness, who went missing before she could give a statement

Activist groups call for a national task force to find the corruption witness, who went missing before she could give a statement