Four Western tourists accused of being part of a group who posed nude at the top of Malaysia’s Mount Kinabalu have appeared in court in Sabah state.
Authorities said the two Canadians, a Briton and a Dutchman may be charged with causing public nuisance.
Mt Kinabalu was hit by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake last Friday which left 18 people dead, including children.
A senior minister last week said the tourists had angered the spirits of the mountain, which is considered sacred.
Six people sought
Ranau district police chief Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah confirmed to the BBC that the authorities had arrested a British woman at Tawau airport in Sabah on Tuesday.
The two Canadians, who are siblings, and the Dutchman turned themselves in to police on the same day.
Their lawyer, Ronny Cham, told the BBC’s Jennifer Pak that he had requested the four be held apart from other detainees in order to ensure their safety.
A candle-lit vigil was held on Tuesday for the victims of the Mount Kinabalu earthquake
The group appeared in court on Wednesday to have their remand extended, according to Malaysian newspaper The Star. They will now be held until Saturday while police continue their investigation.
Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman, Sabah’s police commissioner, was quoted by AFP news agency as saying that the authorities may charge them with causing a public nuisance.
He said they were still looking for six other tourists from the same group “and we will catch them”.
The father of the British tourist who has been arrested, Eleanor Hawkins from the English city of Derby, said he was extremely worried about her. “I have got every faith in [Malaysia’s] judicial system. I just hope they don’t make an example of them,” Tim Hawkins told the Guardian newspaper.
‘Disrespect’
The group of 10 foreigners had allegedly stripped naked and posed for pictures on 30 May. They were also said to have urinated on the mountain.
The Muslim-majority country is socially conservative, and Mount Kinabalu is also considered sacred by Sabah’s Kadazan Dusun tribe.
Pictures posted on social media angered many in Malaysia, but public sentiment intensified after the quake.
Why is Kinabalu sacred?
Sabah’s Kadazan Dusun tribe believe the mountain houses the spirits of their dead ancestors.
The name Kinabalu is derived from the tribe’s phrase “Aki Nabalu”, which means resting place of the dead.
Climbers are told by guides, many of whom are Kadazan Dusun, to treat the mountain with respect and to refrain from shouting, screaming or cursing at it.
Every December the tribe conducts a ritual called the Monolob to appease the spirits and allow climbers to continue visiting the mountain.
A priestess, called a Bobolian, makes an offering of seven white chickens accompanied by seven chicken eggs, betel nuts, tobacco, limestone powder, and betel plant leaves. The Bobolian leads a chant and the chickens are then slaughtered, cooked, and given to the ceremony participants.
In the past, this ceremony was conducted before every ascent, and climbers used the cooked meat as rations for their journey.
Last weekend, Sabah’s deputy chief minister, Joseph Pairin Kitingan, had linked the earthquake to the tourists’ act. He said the tragedy was a “confirmation” that they had showed “disrespect” to the mountain.
Sabah’s tourism minister, Masidi Manjun, said later that this idea was “misconstrued”, but added that the tourists’ actions “were against the people of the largest tribe in Sabah”.
Some officials have demanded that the foreigners be tried in a native court for flouting local customs.
Mr Masidi said on Wednesday that searchers had found the bodies of the last two missing people.
Mourners left tributes to primary school victims in Singapore over the weekend
Singapore’s education ministry identified the two bodies as pupil Navdeep Singh Jaryal Raj Kumar and teacher Mohammad Ghazi Bin Mohamed.
They were part of a group from Tanjong Katong Primary School who were climbing the mountain with guides when the earthquake struck. Seven pupils, two teachers and a guide were killed.
Others killed included Malaysians and citizens from China, Japan and the Philippines.
The bodies of the remaining missing pupil and teacher from Tanjong Katong Primary School have been identified, said the Ministry of Education on Wednesday.
“We are saddened to inform that the Malaysian authorities have confirmed that Navdeep Singh Jaryal s/o Raj Kumar and Mohammad Ghazi Bin Mohamed are amongst the persons who perished at Kota Kinabalu,” said the statement.
“Their next-of-kin have been informed. Their remains will return to Singapore upon completion of further forensic tests. This is expected to take some time. We will continue to provide support to the families during this difficult time.”
Boulders as large as trucks plummeted down the rock face of the mountain, breaking into smaller pieces with a roar. Nearby, some wooden huts collapsed and rolled down the slope.
This was the scene that greeted six Tanjong Katong Primary School (TKPS) pupils last Friday morning when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck near Mount Kinabalu.
That morning, the six children made the decision to stay behind to rest at Pendant Hut, a mountain lodge where other pupils and teachers in their group had slept the night before. They were tired and wanted to rest before heading for the summit the next day.
The other 23 pupils went ahead and set off for the Via Ferrata route 300m away.
At 7.15am, the walls of the hut shook when the quake struck.
Fear gripped 29-year-old Mohamad Amin, the leader who was in charge of the six pupils. He was a staff member with outdoor learning firm Camp Challenge, which ran the expedition.
He quickly snapped out of shock and rushed the children to the nearest place of safety, a helipad that had the open space needed for emergencies.
Along the way, Mr Amin tried to establish contact with the pupils and teachers who were on the mountain with a walkie-talkie.
The group intended to wait for the others at the helipad. However, the ground beneath them shook repeatedly as the aftershocks hit.
So they made their way down to a second helipad where they were joined by other children from TKPS who had suffered broken arms, and head and shoulder injuries.
By then, it was noon and some mountain guides had called for a helicopter. It came two hours later but the fog prevented it from landing.
Some children slowly made their way down while those who were severely injured were carried down the mountain on stretchers.
Mr Amin recalled a boy, Wafeeq, 12, who had hurt his head but delayed getting on a stretcher.
Instead, he asked Mr Amin: “How many of my friends are dead?”
Mr Amin tried to reassure him while helping to bandage the wounds of others.
By then, the first few search and rescue teams were already making their way up.
When Mr Amin reached the foot of the mountain, he was seized by more despair.
He recognised the body of a 12-year-old being brought down and identified her as Peony Wee Ying Ping. He followed her in a separate van to Hospital Ranau and arranged for her to be taken to the main town.
Then he returned to the mountain to make arrangements for other injured pupils, such as Prajesh Dhimant Patel, to be treated at Hospital Queen Elizabeth.
“I went without sleep for 32 hours, fuelled by the fact that 29 pupils and 10 adults went up with me, so they must come down with me,” said Mr Amin.
But it was not to be.
Mr Amin kept his grief in check by assisting officials and parents on the ground before flying back to Singapore yesterday to support the parents of his colleague, Mr Muhammad Daanish Amran, who died in the quake. Mr Daanish was buried yesterday.
“The nightmare continues but I will still be running overseas camps because I believe they build character,” he said.
The last time 12-year-old Keito Kowaka met his football team-mate Ameer Ryyan Mohd Adeed Sanjay, they went out for a meal and had bubble tea. Little did he know that it would be the last time he saw his friend, who was known for his football skills and was an member of F-17, started by local football legend Fandi Ahmad.
Ryyan was among the six students from Tanjong Katong Primary School (TKPS) who lost their lives when an earthquake struck Sabah on Friday. A TKPS teacher and an adventure guide engaged by the school also died on the mountain. The students were on a school trip to Mount Kinabalu.
“He was a competitive boy and very good in football. He was called for the Singapore Sports School trials,” said Keito of Ryyan, who was vice-captain of TKPS’ football team.
Former student Andre Aide Iskandar, 14, also recalls scouting Ryyan into the football team. He had noticed Ryyan’s footwork and speed while he was playing football during recess on the first day of school.
“I’m very sad to hear about Ameer Ryyan because he has been like a little brother to me. I’ve been taking care of him since he was in this school,” he said.
Yesterday, friends and family gathered for the wake of Peony Wee, 12, whose body was the first to be identified on Saturday. Speaking at the wake, her father, Mr Alson Wee, 51, described her as “active” and “jovial”.
Smiling as he described her, Mr Wee said: “She’s talkative, which is good because she could practice her debating (skills).” He said the wake would end on Thursday morning, after which she would be cremated.
Friends and acquaintances of the other deceased were shocked and saddened to learn of the news yesterday. Engineer Low Jun Wei, 29, met TKPS teacher Terrence Sebastian Loo on a teaching course four years ago.
“He was very friendly and helped to break the ice between everyone by coming over and saying ‘Hello’ to all of us,” said Mr Low.
Undergraduate Geraldine Mark was childhood friends with adventure guide Muhammad Daanish Amran. Even as a child, Daanish was an outdoor activities lover, she said. “He lives a few blocks away from me, so we used to meet at the playground every evening and play football or other games,” recounted Ms Mark, 21. “He was a funny person, really easygoing.
Two Singaporeans remain missing: student Navdeep Singh Jaryal s/o Raj Kumar, and teacher Mohammad Ghazi Mohamed.
Ms Lee Yoo Jin, 17, a former TKPS student who visited the condolence corner set up for well-wishers at TKPS yesterday, recounted her memories of Mr Ghazi, who led her on the same trip five years ago when she was at TKPS.
The Physical Education teacher and hockey teacher-in-charge was a dedicated educator, said Ms Lee, citing a quote that he once wrote on the school’s album: “Leave no man behind”.
Mr Ghazi was also Tara’s form teacher last year, and taught her English and Physical Education. “Mr Ghazi (is) a very caring teacher. He always encouraged us to do our very best. He always showed compassion for his students in everything he did,” she said.
PETALING JAYA: Sabahan mountain guides have emerged as heroes in the aftermath of a 5.9-magnitude earthquake for playing key roles in search and rescue efforts.
Photos of the “unsung heroes” transporting injured Mount Kinabalu climbers to safer ground were posted on social media yesterday to much praise and appreciation.
Facebook user Nona Aaliyah hailed the mountain guides as “heroes and the most kind hearted souls I have met”.
“And I’m glad to see my mountain guide safe in this picture. Praying for the others to be back safely with their loved ones,” she commented on a photo of mountain guides getting an injured boy to safety.
Sabah Parks uploaded four photographs of mountain guides and park rangers as they swung into action, braving damaged trails and making multiple trips to help the stranded and weakened climbers descend to safety.
One of the photographs showed a guide carrying an injured climber on his back. It was uploaded with the message: “Thank you, Mt. Guide Ridwan”.
A Singaporean parent identified the boy in the picture as her son.
“Thts (sic) my son from TKP… he is currently receiving treatment for his injuries… please continue to pray for the team… can nvr thk the Sabahan rangers enough for his rescue efforts,” wrote the parent on an education-related Facebook page under the name “Sabrena El Huda”.
Several Sabahans called for the guides involved in the search and rescue efforts to be given recognition by the state government.
“I hope the Sabah governor awards medals to the all mountain guides involved, they all deserve it. Without them, I can’t imagine what would happen – not only will the climbers be stranded, the rescue team will probably also need saving,” said Facebook user Lea Johnsiul.
“God bless our heroes during search and rescue! They deserve some medal or recognition from the country. Now this is Malaysia (more like Sabah) Boleh!” posted Facebook user Karen Leni Lang.
Social media users also conveyed their condolences to the family and friends of mountain guide Robbi Sapinggi, 30, of Kampung Kiau, who died of head injuries after the earthquake.
Katherine H Tan posted that Robbi had been tremendously brave in doing his duties up on the mountain, and prayed for his soul.
“A very honourable spirit. Well done to all Sabahan mountain guides for their efforts. We pray from afar, may the search and rescue team find the other climbers,” she said.
“I’m sad to hear of the deceased mountain guide. Although I do not know Robbi Sapinggi well, may his soul be blessed.
“My condolences to his family,” posted Facebook user Loraiti Lolin Sigi.
