Grieving husband visits Civil Defence Force office to convey gratitude

KOTA KINABALU: Hii Ding Weii is still grieving over the tragic demise of his beloved wife due to the recent floods in Penampang near here but that has not stopped him from personally delivering his gratitude to rescue workers.

Hii, 39, put on a strong face as he visited the Kota Kinabalu operations control centre on Friday (July 5) to convey his sincere appreciation in person to the Civil Defence Force personnel who helped retrieve his wife’s remains.

In a two-minute-14-second video posted on the Kota Kinabalu Civil Defence Force Facebook page, the widower was received by Capt Aizex Junior Simon as he arrived at their base, just two days after Monica Ting Siew Kwong’s funeral.

In a poignant moment, Hii was brought to visit the Civil Defence Force lorry where he sat as he waited in agony for the search and rescue efforts to look for Ting, 37, who was swept away by surging flood waters at Kampung Hungab last Sunday (June 30).

He recounted what took place that fateful day to Aizex and five other personnel, saying the lorry ferried him to safety when the flood was still rising.

He could even afford a light joke later, as he stared at and inspected the vehicle.

“This was where I was also fed and given something to drink,” said Hii, briefly breaking the sombre moment, with nervous laughter from some of the personnel heard in the background.

The couple, who have two children aged nine and 15, ran an eatery business in Kapayan here since 11 years ago.

He said the Civil Defence Force lorry had sent him home later that night but he remained anxious as his wife was still not found and kept calling rescuers to locate her as they had to postpone the search due to safety reasons.

Aizex replied: “We have promised so, we will go look for her.”

“Yes, I know you have promised and told me not to worry,” Hii said, as the memories came rushing back.

Later in the video, Hii said his visit was to show his utmost gratitude to the force for helping him in his most difficult situation.

“They have helped me so much, they found my wife so, I just want to say thank you,” he said, as he gripped and shook the hands of the personnel repeatedly.

On Sunday, the couple waded through flood waters after their car was trapped in the floods.

Initially thought to be sending food to trapped flood victims, Hii has since clarified through local news reports that they were actually sending food ordered by customers in Donggongon town, Penampang.

Penampang police chief Supt Sammy Newton had said the couple fell into a drain but the husband managed to save himself while the wife was washed away by the strong current at about 10pm.

Hii had tried frantically to hold on to his spouse but she slipped and was swept away.

He immediately notified the Civil Defence Force and police personnel who were conducting search and rescue work in the area.

Ting’s remains were found caught in tree branches, some 500m from where she was last seen by her husband, at about 8am on Monday (July 1).