Singapore Kayakers Still Missing After 5 Days, Although Kayak Was Found
The hardest part in any missing persons case is the agonising wait for your loved ones to come home safely. Louis and his family have been enduring this very ordeal valiantly over the past week.
Louis wrote a heartfelt post after waiting 5 days for news on his mother, Ms Puah Geok Tin, aged 64. Her kayak had drifted away from an expedition group due to strong currents on Thursday (8 Aug), with 52-year-old Mr Tan Eng Soon – her kayaking mate – in tow.
“Non-stop” efforts to locate his mother
He thanked the Malaysian Search & Rescue team profusely for their “non-stop” efforts to find his mother, who was last seen kayaking near the Endau Islands at around 5.30pm on 8 Aug.
Louis shares that they dedicated an incredible amount of resources, sacrificed their holiday, and worked around the clock to facilitate efforts to locate the missing Singaporeans.
The filial son expresses his gratitude in his own words,
Our families and friends are so grateful to them, we sincerely want to thank each and everyone’s effort in the search team. Truly thankful.
Touching plea for his mother to return
Previously, Louis had also written a heartwrenching plea on Facebook, posted on 11 Aug.
He wrote that everyone was waiting for her to return, and that there were so many “unsaid words” and other things in his life that he wished to share with her.
Louis also related how frustrating it felt not to be able to help much with the rescue efforts.
At this point, the rescue had hit the 72-hour mark, and his mother was still missing at open sea. Louis shared that they wished to have Singapore forces join the hunt for his mother, so that “more could be done”.
He concluded that he had faith in Singapore, and knew that no one would be left behind.
Kayak found with other personal belongings
The kayak belonging to Ms Puah and Mr Tan has already been found.
At around 12.30pm on Tuesday (13 Aug), the boat was located by Malaysian fishermen near Tanjung Gelang in Kuantan — 80 “nautical miles” from their original location.
Among other things, these were the belongings within the kayak:
- Mr Tan’s passport
- Purses with Malaysian/Singaporean currency
- Mobile phone
- Bag of clothes
- Identity card
- Paddle
The fishermen used the phone to text Mr Tan’s loved ones regarding their find. However, there was no word as to where Ms Puah or Mr Tan were.
Kudos to the Malaysian team for going all out
Like Louis, we’re extremely thankful that no expense has been spared to locate the 2 missing kayakers in what is surely a difficult time for the loved ones of Ms Pua and Mr Tan.
Hopefully, they’ll all be able to pull through and continue to remain strong as we await further updates on the case.
Featured image from Google Maps and Facebook.
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