SIBU: The families of the four sailors from Sibu taken hostage in Sabah waters by Abu Sayyaf militants are desperate for news from the victims.
Wong Chee Ming, father of abducted brothers Teck Kang and Teck Chii, when contacted yesterday, said after Teck Kang called home last Wednesday, no more was heard from the hostages.
He said the dateline was drawing near and they had done their best to seek the release of the hostages.
“We have received no more news. No telephone calls and no text messages. It is back to total desperate silence.”
The father confirmed the authorities had not called to relay the latest situation to them though Sibu Police called on Wednesday to ask “if we had received a call from my son”.
“I replied in the negative. The police asked me to inform them if we did.”
Meanwhile, the hostage incident has brought Sibu townsfolk together as they tried to secure their release by using social networking to reach out to friends to chip in with donations.
Chee Ming confirmed that donations continued to pour in.
Videos of the donation plea on Monday night and audio recordings of the conversation between Chee Ming and his son went viral on social network.
On Monday night, family members attended political ceramah to kneel and plead for help.
Since then, townsfolk have been putting their efforts together, even reaching out to friends in Peninsular Malaysia and other countries, calling for help through Whatsapp, Wechat and Facebook.