Holiday turns into nightmare

Residents of Brunei who are planning to have their holidays abroad are advised to take extra precautions on the safety of their personal belongings like passports, cash, credit cards and other important items.

A couple made such call after their holiday trip in the neighbouring country turned into a nightmare.

Identified himself as Ody, the resident told the Bulletin that he went with his family to Kuching for a holiday trip recently.

In Kuching, they put up at two hotels - they stayed at the first hotel for a day and later moved to another one due to shopping convenience.

The mishap happened at the second hotel when he and his wife brought the children for swimming at the hotel.

They locked their rooms before going to the swimming pool, bringing all the important belongings with them.

Initially, the youngest daughter was placed at the children's swimming pool while the other children were placed at the adult's pool.

Later, the youngest wanted to join her sister and brother. Thus, Ody's wife accompanied her daughter to the adult's pool for precautions, leaving behind her bag of important belongings at the table near the children's pool.

Nobody was at sight at that time in the area. However, the bag was gone in no time when Ody turned to watch his children swimming in the pool.

Ody was shocked and felt very uneasy. He reported the incident to the security guard at the swimming pools. When he enquired on any unusual individuals entering the pool area, the security guard just nodded.

Ody said that there was one witness, a young man from west Malaysia, also a hotel guest, who was swimming nearby when the incident happened. He claimed that he saw a man and a woman in their 30s' take their belongings; he thought they were related to Ody and did not bother to say anything.

Later, when Ody and his family went back to the hotel rooms, they found their belongings scattered all over the rooms and some of them disappeared. They had left their hotel keys in the stolen bag.

Ody promptly reported the incident to the hotel staff; however, no action was being taken. So, he lodged a report at the local police station.

According to Ody, the authorities there were unattentive and unhelpful. The policeman in-charge recorded and acknowledged their case.

Unsatisfied, Ody went to the Consulate General of Brunei Darussalam in Kuching for further assistance, particularly in need of emergency passport for himself and his family.

It was a sour holiday for him and his family. It was a nightmare, said Ody. Until today he did not hear any news from the police and the hotel on their case.