MERSING: The families of the three who are still missing
from Saturday's ferry tragedy can only pray and hope for the best
as the search continues off the coast here.
Although there was no sign
of Choong Yoong Kim, Wong Song Leng and Wong Han Wen, their
relatives remain hopeful that they could be alive.
Choong's wife Wong Soo
Cheng and their eldest daughter Zi Wei, together with several
relatives held a ceremony at the jetty yesterday evening.
Soo
Cheng and Song Leng are siblings.
They burnt a letter in
Chinese that pleaded the Water God to be merciful and to return
their loved ones.
They also called out
Choong's and Song Leng's names before throwing watermelons into the
sea.
“If the watermelon sinks,
it is bad luck. If it floats, then we can hope for the best,”
Choong's brother Danny said.
They felt a little
relieved as both watermelons floated.
Danny,
who had rushed from Kuala Lumpur, said people told him that the
strong tide could have washed them to one of the many nearby
islands.
“This gives us renewed
hope that they could have survived,” he added.
The family members had
earlier planned to hold the ceremony at the location where the
ferry caught fire but bad weather forced them to change their
plans.
Search and rescue
operations by 70 uniformed personnel from the Malaysian Maritime
Enforcement Agency, Marine Police, Police Air Wing, Fire and Rescue
Department and navy divers resumed at dawn yesterday.
Operations coordinator
Captain Tan Kok Kwee said the team found a life jacket which
belonged to the vessel at 2.30pm about 8km from the site of the
accident.
There was, however, no
sign of any of those missing.
Johor Fire and Rescue
Department operations assistant director Abdul Hamid S. Abdullah
said the canine unit comprising Labradors – Joe, Hardy and Cody –
have been brought in to help with the search and rescue.
He said the dogs had been
very helpful in rescue efforts in rivers and
lakes.
“They have never been on a
mission at sea. We’re trying them out in the sea for the first time
and we hope they do well,” he added.
MISSING:
Choong Yoong
Kim
Wong Song
Leng
Wong Han
Wen
