No end to the kidnappings since 1998

This statistics would be enough to scare a lot of people - the tourists, investors, the genuine citizens, you, me! How can one live in a place where people treat others worse than animal!

Sabah-based Daily Express, April 24, 2014

You can grab your copy of today's local daily - the Daily Express - and read the full article, but I'll spare you that and I'll summarise the kidnapping incidents around the vicinity of Semporna town since 1998:

September 1998 - two Hong Kong Chinese and a Malaysian Sabahan were reportedly kidnapped on one of the islands near Sabah-Philippine boarder in Semporna

April 2000 - a band of six men armed with M16 rifles and rocket launchers staged a quick raid on Pulau Sipadan off Semporna, and took 21 hostages including ten foreign tourists in two junk boats around dinner time.

September 2000 - an armed group struck at a resort in Pandanan just six month after the Sipadan kidnapping, involving 3 Malaysian hostages

October 2003 - six foreign workers (three Indonesians and Filipinos) we're kidnapped by a group of ten armed men, believed to be pirates, from the Borneo Paradise Eco Farm and Resort on a Sunday night.

April 2004 - two Sarawakians and an Indonesian were kidnapped by a group of armed men, believed from Abu Sayyaf group, off Pulau Taganak, while heading to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific.

March 2005 - a group of five armed pirates abducted three Indonesian crew of a Sandakan-based sea transporting company near Mataking Island, off Semporna.

January 2010 - a crew of six to eight men fishing bout was captured by gunmen, when their boat strayed into the Philippine waters near Boan Island.

February 2010 - a manager and supervisor, aged 35 and 43, of a seaweed cultivation farm in Semporna were kidnapped by four armed men in Pulau Sebangkat about eight nautical miles off Semporna.

May 2011 - ten gunmen kidnapped a Malaysian businessman on a troubles southern Philippine Jolo Island, a known stronghold of Islamic militants.

November 2012 - a 33-year-old plantation manager and his 25-year-old assistant, both cousins, we're inspecting a swiftlet house in the plantation near Felda Sahabat 15, 50kma way from Lahad Datu! with two workers when they were abducted by five armed men who dragged them into a waiting boat.

August 2013 - nine fishermen claimed that they wee kidnapped by a group of 20 armed men off Semporna waters.

November 2013 - a Taiwanese tourist was shot dead and his female companion abducted by an armed group at the Pom-Pom Island Resort located some 14 nautical miles off Semporna.

April 2014 - a 29-year-old Chinese tourist and a 40-year-old Filipina resort employee, were abducted by a group of seven armed men from the Singahmata Adventure and agreed are sort located some 10 minutes boat ride from Semporna Town.

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So, please tell me how to explain this to a tourist intending to cancel his trip to Sabah, or, how can I convince my friends and family that it is safe to visit these areas in the East Coast.

Figures don't lie.

Sabah needs to utilise Remote Sensing Technology

For aerial surveillance, remote sensing via satellite "is cheap because it saves time and costs".

That's what Datuk Darus Ahmad, Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency Director-General said back in March 2010 when his department organised an awareness seminar at Hyatt Regency hotel in Kota Kinabalu that year.

Satellite image of Kota Kinabalu. Want your house monitored this way? Darus Ahmad (left) presenting the picture to Dr. Yee. Photo - InsightSabah


I am sure it is 'very' cheap now looking at the circumstances Malaysians in Sabah are now facing. Large state like Sabah requires technology that is fast and effective for a wide range of fields such as agriculture, the environment, land develop­ment and security.


If it is available, use it!

In today's perspective, Sabah is facing security threat from intruders and surveillance using airplanes is not only expensive but tedious and limited in terms of availability. In the eastern seaboard, we are talking about 1,500km of coastline. Needless to say it is a huge area to cover and we certainly need to put in more assets, including better surveillance system.

For aerial surveillance, remote sensing could and should be one of the options.

We have this technology. Use it. With this method, one can take fast and accurate aerial photographs via satellite compared to traditional methods. Of course, aircraft need to make their patrolling, too. A roar in the sky scare the birds away, so they say.

Back then, Sabah Forestry Department was the only state department to fully utilise remote sensing technology to manage forest resources in Sabah. It is high time that other departments, too, make similar move.

If the technology can by used by the Forestry Department to monitor logging activities in the forests, it can also be used for monitoring the coastline round the clock.