PUBLISHED ONJanuary 12, 2025 4:10 AMByCandice CaiShe'd told her family she had gotten a job opportunity in Singapore six months ago. But for the last three months, no one has heard from her.
On Friday (Jan 10), her mother Bao Yanping, 47, held a press conference in Johor Bahru to appeal for more information about her 21-year-old daughter.
The young woman, identified as Dionna Liew Jia Yee, had told her family she was starting work in Singapore on September 1, said Bao. As Liew wanted to leave ahead of time to prepare, her father drove her to the Malaysian checkpoint on Aug 28, reported Lianhe Zaobao via Sin Chew Daily.
Bao said that her daughter later stopped responding to text messages soon after.
"I sent her a message after she left but she didn't reply. I thought she was busy with her new job," said Bao. She only felt something was amiss after the silence stretched till the start of October. Bao also realised that the messages that she had sent Liew had not been read.
At the press conference, she told reporters that the pair had gotten into an argument in June after Liew told her that she wanted to go to Shanghai for two weeks to "think about life", reported Guang Ming Daily. Worried for her safety, Bao tried to dissuade her and the pair had a falling out.
Bao also revealed that Liew used to work as a piano teacher in Singapore but was fired after she left for a holiday in China without approval.
Bao added that it was only after she made police reports in JB as well as in Singapore in October that she found out that her daughter did not possess any permits for work or long-term stay in Singapore.
She also discovered that Liew had taken a flight out of Singapore on Aug 28 at 9.18pm from Changi Airport.
Bao said that she'd gone to Singapore's Changi Airport to try and get information on Liew's destination but was told that as Liew was a legal adult and a tourist, they could not share the information due to privacy concerns.
"She last updated her social media in October last year, but later her friends discovered that her Instagram account and all updates were cleared. Seeing this, I was even more worried," said Bao.
She added: "It's impossible for her not to contact me and her friends as well. She used to respond quickly to messages and never stayed silent like this."
Bao told reporters that the last message she got from Liew was on Oct 4, when Bao sent a message telling her to prepare documents to apply for Singapore PR. Liew had replied to the message, stating, "I know". However, subsequent messages went unanswered.
Bao tearfully shared that Liew was 13 years old when Bao and her husband divorced, leaving her to raise three children singlehandedly. Liew is the oldest of the children, reported Guang Ming Daily. Bao added that she'd not been sleeping well since the incident and hoped for Liew's safe return.
Lin Daoxiang (transliteration), the director of a public complaints bureau in Johor, pointed out that the location of Liew's Xiaohongshu account had changed from Singapore to Zhejiang, China. The location then changed again to reflect Shaanxi province. He added that he'd tried messaging her on the platform but did not receive a response.
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candicecai@asiaone.com
