Leong conducting a treatment session in Miri in this file photo.
MIRI: Friends and employees of famed “tit-tar” traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and Malaysian social media celebrity Chris Leong have launched a petition urging the government to secure the release of him and his team from detention in Indonesia.
Tit-tar is a traditional Chinese “bone-setting” practice that some consider an alternative to modern chiropathy.
The petition sought the urgent attention and mobilisation of representatives from the Embassy and Consulate office in Indonesia to secure their release as shown in the case of the recent release of 47 Malaysians detained in Banteay Meanchey, Cambodia.
“We, the company, and all parents of the detained persons, are totally devastated and disheartened with the lack of action to secure their immediate release,” it said.
The employees claimed that the group has been detained for 44 days this Friday which exceeded the maximum duration anyone can be held in detention without trial in Indonesia, which stands at 40 days.
Chris Leong and his 19-member team were arrested in Palembang, Indonesia on Jan 9 as they were accused of violating their tourist visas and conducting illegal commercial activities there.
The lack of news on their release or any formal charges against them by Indonesian authorities has worried the detainees, prompting them to launch a petition through Leong’s company, CL Method Tit Tar PLT.
Uploaded on change.org, the petition has gathered over 18,000 signatures as of 3pm on Friday.
The group arrived in Indonesia on Jan 5 at Kualanamu Airport in Medan before heading to Palembang.
They were arrested after an immigration enforcement officer, posing as a patient, was charged 4.5mil rupiah (RM1,300) for the “tit-tar” service.
The petition is addressed to the Malaysian government, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Saiffudin Abdullah.
“We appeal for our Malaysian Government utmost attention (sic) to assist to speed up the release of our citizens and their associates with a prompt extradition process and clear the whole episodes (sic) which could be labelled as only a misunderstanding at best.
The petition also alleges risk of ill-treatment at the detention centres, going further to say that the detainees were coerced into making false statements under pressure so authorities there can take legal action and charge them.