THE threat to his personal safety, high cost of operation and an ungrateful public are what made Pakatan Harapan assemblyman Sim Chon Siang give up on trying to rescue Malaysians who are victims of job scams in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The Teruntum assemblyman said it is time to leave the rescue job to the police and the government, particularly the Foreign Ministry.

“It’s their job,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Since last April, Sim has spent a lot of time with a Malaysian businessman, known only as Mr Wong, to scour these three countries to track down the victims, organise their rescue and bring them home.

In the short time of his danger-filled adventure, Sim and Wong rescued 96 Malaysians from human traffickers.

But the danger was such that Sim said he “could lose his life at any time”.

“Everything we did is still vivid in my memory. I was resigned to the fact I could be dead in the blink of an eye,” he said.

“Was I afraid? Of course I was afraid.

“We were not facing a ragtag band of criminals. We were facing well-organised big groups.

“My family was worried about my wellbeing every time I went on a rescue mission.”

He said when he started his quest, he had “no choice”.

“It was for the sake of fellow Malaysians. If my one life is exchanged for the lives of 1,000 victims, I think it’s worth it,” he said.

Sim said when the victims’ mothers started kneeling and crying in front of him and begging for help, “I couldn’t bear to say ‘No’”.

He said he was to find out later from the young victims rescued that the human traffickers had made Wong “the number one” and him, the “number two” people who pose the most threat to their operations.

Sim said the closest he came to getting killed was when he was in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

This town is close to the Myanmar-Thailand border, separated from the Myanmar border town of Myawaddy by the Moei River.

The towns are the most important trading points between Myanmar and Thailand as the crossing currently offers the most convenient overland route between the two countries.

Sim was there filming the area to gather documentary evidence on the activities of a Myanmar human trafficking group when two machine-gun-toting men “pointed (their guns) at me from behind”.

It scared the daylight out of Sim to the point he called it quits February 19.

On the monetary costs, Sim said to rescue just one person, he would need at least RM20,000.

The costs are mainly for airfares and paying illegal entry fines.

Apathy and accusations

Sim said he was also hurt by the apathy shown by the families of some victims.

He said they seemed financially well off and could help him defray the costs of his rescue work but they would not.

“They think they are due the assistance and, therefore, would not help out at all,” he said.

As a result, Sim said he had to use his salary and even at times, had to dig into his personal savings to pay for his missions when the costs had exceeded the budget.

But what hurt Sim most were the accusations, slander and lies hurled by netizens with some even accusing him of working for the human traffickers.

“Those accusations make me very angry,” he said.

Sim said the people hiding behind the keyboard even accused him of pocketing the donations and contributions to fund his missions.

“I never pocketed any money. In fact, I even had to use my own money to fund the trips,” he said.

Sim, who is Pahang executive councillor for consumer affairs and human resources, said another reason he is giving up his rescue work is that it would be unfair to the people of Pahang if he spends his time elsewhere.

“I would not be able to focus on my job as a state exco. The truth is, there is no end to this human trafficking issue,” he said.

“In the end, the ultimate responsibility to tackle the issue would be the police.”

Sim said at the moment, he has information on 50 victims who have yet to be tracked down and rescued.

He said if the police and Foreign Ministry want the information, he is more than happy to share it. – February 23, 2023.