Outing at pub turns into nightmare for couples

Seeking counsel: Fernandez speaking with Ong (middle) and Chua about the detention of their wives.

JOHOR BARU: It was supposed to be a casual chit-chat session among five people when their gathering turned into a nightmare after their wives, both Chinese nationals, were detained during a police raid.

Both the women Huang Lihua, 42, and Shu Xianting, 35, were detained since Friday and police told their Malaysian husbands their wives can be held for up to 14 days as police verify their documents.

Shu’s husband, programmer Ong Wan Yih, 32, said that their one-year-old daughter was missing her mother very much and he had to take emergency leave to take care of her for the past four days.

“I showed all the proof to the police including our marriage certificate but they are still detaining her.

.“I do not understand what offence we have committed,” he said, adding that their gathering on Friday has turned into a nightmare.

Ong said his wife has gastric problems and he was worried for her.

“I only saw my wife for 10 minutes at the lockup on Monday,” he said, asking why verifying documents was taking so long.

Huang’s husband Chua Chee Wai said they had gathered at a pub on Friday at about 10.30pm for some drinks in Stulang.

“At 1am the police raided and separated the men and women.

“We tried to explain about our wives and showed their passports and valid visas but they were still detained,” he said.

Chua said he was married to his wife for eight years and they never encountered such a problem before.

Both men sought the help of lawyer Norman Fernandez who said he would be writing to the OCPD to seek clarification with regards to the case.

“We are not against police action on pubs but there must be a standard procedure as to how long it takes to verify documents.

“In this case all the documents have been produced,” he added.

Meanwhile, Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Shahurinain Jais when contacted confirmed a raid was conducted at a karaoke club in Stulang Laut and police arrested 48 women comprising 37 Vietnamese, eight from China, two Thais, two Cambodians and one Indonesian.

“All these women are believed to have misused their social visit passes to work as waitresses here,” he said, adding that the police also nabbed the outlet’s caretaker and a man on the police wanted list.

On the arrest of Huang and Shu, ACP Shahurinain added that the police were still waiting for verification from the Immigration Depart­ment on their documents.- Star