KUCHING: The residents of Taman Riverview are shocked that the couple who recently moved to the neighbourhood are among the suspects nabbed in connection of the missing boy – Eric Chang Wei Jie – who believed have been murdered and dumped into the Sarawak River.
Its Kapitan Chung Chong Chong said Taman Riverview was a safe and friendly neighbourhood where people have been living and working there harmoniously.
He said there were more than 400 houses, 60 commercial shop lots, and about 1,000 units of apartments under the Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) project. Majority of the residents were from the Chinese community.
“We have been living peacefully, safely over the decades where there isn’t any major crime. We know each other well in the area,” he said, adding he has been living there for more than 40 years.
“This is indeed a major one ever happened in our area and we are really sad that the boy was (believed) murdered. This is not what we hope for but we have to accept it and let the police investigate thoroughly,” he told the reporters today.
Chung said the boy’s babysitter and husband rented a terraced unit at Taman Riverview a few months ago but they did not really exchange greetings or have casual conversations with others.
“So, we don’t really know much about them except that they are just renting the unit. They are not the house owner,” he said.
He said 15 members from the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) had started to search around after they learned about the four-year-old boy who had gone missing from Lorong 2, Taman Riverview, on March 7.
He said the team started their own search operation from 9.30pm to 11.30pm, covering the residential and industrial areas, but to no avail.
Chung said although it was a shocking news but it was an isolated case, hence, residents in the area should stay calm and avoid spreading unconfirmed information.
It was previously reported that Chang’s mother had sent him to the babysitter – who was also a friend – on Feb 21. However, the babysitter claimed that the boy went missing on March 7 morning while a police report was lodged at 7.40pm on the same day.
Yesterday, Kuching district police chief in a statement said the police have reclassified the case from Section 31(1) of the Child Act 2001 to Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
He said two of the suspects, the babysitter and her husband, arrested on March 9, would be further remanded to assist in the investigation.
He said the police would be leading the search-and-rescue operation today (which was Day 2 of the operation) in the Muara Tebas area, together with the Marine Police, Fire and Rescue Department and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
The four-year-old boy was last seen at No 1493, Lorong 2, Taman Riverview, Jalan Daya, Kuching, Sarawak. He was wearing a dark blue round-neck T-shirt and a pair of black shorts.
