I held a press conference yesterday to highlight this case where the police has been so slow and even apathetic towards investigating this case of lost and stolen luggage belonging to two tourists from America.
At the same time, it is really dishonest and irresponsible of the bus company to promise to compensate, and yet delay and postpone and try to avoid paying the foreign tourists after having admitted the fault was theirs.
It is the bad experiences like these experienced by visitors in our country that negate all the great things that make Malaysia such a great place for tourism and really spoils Malaysia’s image. I urge the police to take action immediately to restore otheir image as law enforcers and protectors of the public and most of all Malaysia’s international image.
Bus company loses luggage, tourist demand compensation
by Leven Woon on 27 Aug, 2010
An American tourist, Charles Edwards Stokes and his local partner, Rosnani Yahya are demanding immediate compensation from Eagle Coach Ekspress for losing two of their bags during a bus trip on May 30.
Their bags fell off the coach after the bus driver failed to properly latch the door of the luggage compartment during their trip from Shah Alam to Johor Bahru. Stokes and Rosnani lost a laptop, digital cameras, clothes and valuables worth RM5000.
The couple resorted to getting the assistance of Seputeh MP Teresa Kok after the bus company was less than cooperative in resolving their claims.
Rosnani and Stokes showed picture of an anonymous man with the missing laptop
The company’s staffs first refused to reveal its office telephone number, later the company’s manager Misnan was unable to be reached via phone despite several attempts, Stokes claimed.
“When we finally met him at his office on July 21, he was surprised to see us still inside the country,” Stokes recalled. He alleged that Misnan promised on the day to settle their compensations within four days, but that failed to materialize.
When the couple confronted him again on August 9, the manager said he will pay in stages.
“He is trying his luck that we will go off soon so he can live happily after,” Stokes claimed.
Police no help
In an interesting twist, a person with the missing laptop connected online via Skype with a friend of Rosnani. The friend, knowing that the laptop was lost, took a picture via Skype. When asked the person claimed that he was working at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
However, despite lodging two police reports in Skudai and Shah Alam, the police refused to follow the lead and track down the person in the picture.
“They said they don’t know what Skype is and don’t know what they should do,” said Rosnani.
“(The policeman) told us to go KLIA to investigate ourselves,”
The man is believed to be a staff of KLIA
Shah Alam district police officer ACP Nor Azam Jamaludin, when contacted, said the luggage is believed to have been drop between Sepang and KLIA during the bus trip. He promised to liaise with Sepang police station to locate the anonymous man.
However, he admitted that police might require assistance from Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as they do not have expertise in the field yet.
Meanwhile, the bus driver of the trip, who only wishes to be known Mus, said he already done his best to search for the missing luggage when he realized the drop halfway through the journey.
He also blamed the couple for not keeping their valuables with them in the bus.
Eagle Ekspress’s manager Misnan, was unable to be reached for comment at press time.
What a load of nonsense from the company. Let’s hope with the publicity now, the offending company can reach a more acceptable solution !
YB…pls help those poor folks who worked and tilled their land for years and then suddenly out of the blue .outsiders..umno…turned up armed with titles and told these folks that the land belonged to them(outsiders)..these folks are from kg chui chak..kg pelawan..langkap…perak…PERAK LAND GRAB…how’s i sound to you..tq