Friends, family pay respects to slain Malaysian hostage Bernard Then

Chan Wai See, the widow of Malaysian hostage Bernard Then, carries the urn containing his ashes after cremation on Jan. 15, 2016. Then was kidnapped with a compatriot, Thien Nyuk Fun, by the Abu Sayyaf in May in Malaysia’s Sabah state and taken by boat to the southern Philippine province of Sulu. Thien was freed but Then was found beheaded. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

PETALING JAYA — Friends and family of Bernard Then Ted Fen paid their last respects to the slain Malaysian hostage during a wake here on Sunday.

His ashes were placed at the Church of St Francis Xavier’s Paul Miki Room in Jalan Gasing for those wanting to pay their last respects to him.

A well-wisher who did not want to be named said that he wanted to show his support to the family during this difficult time.

“What happened to Bernard was tragic and I hope more can be done so that such events don’t ever happen again,” he said.

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His ashes will then be interred at Subang Lutheran Garden, Jalan U9/39 Jingga, Subang Permai, Section 9, Shah Alam.

The 39-year-old engineer was cremated on Friday in Manila, Philippines, and his ashes were brought back to Malaysia on Saturday.

The funeral mass will be held at the church on Monday at 10am.

Then was abducted in Sabah along with Ocean King seafood restaurant manager Thien Nyuk Fun on May 15 last year.

READ: Suspect in kidnappings of 2 Malaysians arrested in Jolo

Thien was released on Nov 8, but Then was beheaded by his captors at a remote location on Jolo Island in southern Philippines on Nov 11.

READ: Sabah hostage released by Abu Sayyaf gunmen