Happy reunion
today
Zulkarnain to reunite with wife and children after two months
separation
By Jerry Kamijan and Sunar Tumiran
KOTA KINABALU:
No words could express how Siti Hajar Jakiah felt when she unexpectedly received a
telephone call from her husband, Zulkarnain Hashim in Zamboanga at about 5.30pm Saturday,
telling her that he has been liberated.
"I was
simply overjoyed that day".
"I am very
thankful to Allah for answering our prayers," Siti, 26, told New Sabah Times when
contacted in her house in Tawau yesterday.
Siti said it
has been mentally agonising for her and their children at every waking moment for the last
two months "and we even thought of the worst that might befall him".
"We waited
for this moment, for his safe return...and now finally, we are going to be reunited,"
said Siti who was obviously powerless to hide her blessedness yesterday.
Siti, who is
teaching in SMK Abaka, Tawau was saying in between 'tears of joy' that her husband had
called her again from Manila at about 9.45am yesterday to inform her he was fine and safe,
and would be returning to Sabah today.
"He also
told me he will meet President Estrada (President of Philippines) before meeting the
Malaysian Ambassador, Mohamad Arshad Manzoor Hussain," she added.
She said the
authorities had also informed her that Zulkarnain would return home today "and they
invited me and the children to meet him upon arrival".
But Siti said
the meeting place and the arrival time of Zulkarnain have yet to be confirmed.
"We will
definitely go and meet him," she said.
Siti also said
her children jumped with joy when told that their daddy is finally coming home.
"Each time
they saw their father in the television, they would say "daddy is still alive".
They were longing for their father to come home.
"And the
next day, they would be seen flipping through the pages of the newspaper to search for
their father's photo," she enthused.
Sulkarnain, 29,
and Siti, have three children - Iskandar, 3, Sakina, 19 months old and Mohd Safiq, four
months.
The Sabah
WIldlife Department ranger was snatched along with 20 others including eight other
Malaysians from Pulau Sipadan on Easter Sunday on April 23 this year.
Zulkarnain and
three other colleagues, Balm Krishnan Nair, 34, Basilius Jim, 31, and Francis Masungkim,
35, were on duty on the island when they were kidnapped by more than a dozen Abu Sayyaf
members in two kumpits.
Meanwhile,
Zulkarnain's mother Masniah Talib, 48, is also relieved that his only child is finally
released.
The family also
wished that the rest of Zulkarnain's colleagues and other Malaysians and foreign hostages
are released as soon as possible.
The other
Malaysians still held hostage are policeman Abdul Jawan Sulawat, 39, divemaster Ken Fong
Yin Ken, 27, another divemaster Vincent Kong, 40, cook Kua Yu Loong, 24, and assistant
cook Lee Hock Leong, 20.
The rest are
Filipinos Roland Ullah, 41, from Borneo Divers, Laurencia Diablo, 34, an employee of one
of the resorts and nine foreign visitors.
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