Ocean King Seafood Restaurant (left) is located right next to Pasir Putih Seafood Centre (right).
Pasir Putih Seafood Centre
SANDAKAN: Pasir Putih Seafood Centre which is located near to Ocean King Seafood Restaurant, is expecting to suffer a drastic decrease in its business for months to come.
“When I heard about the news on the kidnapping incident last Thursday night, my wife and I were devastated, thinking how this would greatly impact our business.
“Today (yesterday), I already had a few tables which were booked by Hong Kong tourists for next week, cancelled. I do not know how long it will take for this (negative impact to business) to recover, but I hope the public will not panic and trust the armed forces to protect us,” said Pasir Putih Seafood Centre owner, Yong Kim Soo when met at his restaurant, yesterday.
Yong’s restaurant was business as usual, operating from 9am to 11pm, as he said “business has to go on.”
He revealed that from the Lahad Datu series of intrusion events, his business profit had dropped by 60 percent, and after the safety condition at the east coast slowly recovered, his business went up by 30 percent, until Thursday.
“I will be expecting a 50 percent drop in business after this incident,” he said.
When asked if he was concerned with the safety of his restaurant as it was within walking distance from Ocean King Seafood Restaurant, Yong said he was more concerned with business progress at his restaurant as he still had to make a living.
“I do not think that by operating my business here, I would risk my life. All I can think about now is how to make a living with the cost of living increasing,” he commented.
The Pasir Putih Seafood Centre has been operating for over 20 years and receives about 100 customers per night.
According to Yong, most of his customers were tourists from China as well as from European countries.
“This incident would obviously affect the tourism industry here, which in turn would affect my business as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, Yong asked members of the public as well as the media not to exaggerate the situation and not to assume anything as the authorities were still investigating the case.
“Personally, I believe the kidnapping incident was assisted by insider(s), or else how could they identify which one was the co-owner of the restaurant within a few seconds when there were hundreds of people dining?” he commented on the incident in which Ocean King Seafood Restaurant co-owner Thien Nyuk Fun was pulled away by armed assailants when she was sitting at one of the many dining tables in the restaurant.
Also abducted was a Sarawakian tourist, Bernard Then Ted Fen, who was pulled away by four armed men to a boat and fled at around 7.26pm on Thursday night.