Candles were lit, a cake was cut and “Happy Birthday to You” rendered at the Suhakam headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.
Tears flowed not in merriment but despair for pastor Raymond Koh, who turns 63 today, and has been missing for 260 days.
The birthday “celebration” was held when the commission's public inquiry into his abduction and the disappearance of several activists took an hour-long recess for lunch.
Koh's wife Suzanna Liew and the couple's two daughters brought a cake into the hearing room.
Amid tears, they lit the candles, sang the birthday song and cut the cake as Liew held a photograph of her husband.
"We are glad to be able to celebrate Raymond's birthday even though he is not around. We pray for his safety and that he will be in good health and strength," Liew was reported as saying.
Former MCA lawmaker Lee Hwa Beng, who was also present, described it as a heart-wrenching episode.
“I cried for Raymond and his family. I hope the truth will come out from this hearing. Only the truth can set us free,” he told Malaysiakini.
Koh was abducted by a group of men sporting balaclavas along Jalan SS4B/10 in Petaling Jaya at about 11am on Feb 13 while he was driving to a friend's house.
His silver-coloured Honda Accord bearing the number plate ST 5515 D has not been found.
Following this, speculation was rife that the incident could be related to religion.
The Suhakam inquiry is investigating whether the disappearance of Koh, activist Amri Chemat, pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth Hilmy were cases of enforced disappearances as defined by the International Convention for Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances (ICPPED).- Mkini
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