Three years ago Pastor Raymond Koh was abducted in broad daylight from his car by a group of more than 10 armed men along a road in a quiet suburb of Petaling Jaya while on his way to a friend’s house.

On February 13, 2017, CCTV footage showed three black SUVs boxing in Pastor Koh’s car, leaving no room for escape.

About 15 men in tactical gear circled Pastor Koh’s Honda Accord. Sounds of glass being smashed were heard and the men in black, who wore balaclavas, overpowered the pastor and bundled him into one of the SUVs in a coordinated manoeuvre that lasted just under one minute.

He has not been seen by his family since.

“We have been traumatised and experienced panic attacks, sleepless nights and loss of appetite. My children suffered depression, physical ailments, emotional and psychological damages. It will take a long time for them to heal,” Susanna Liew, Pastor Koh’s wife, told Salt&Light in an interview last week.

The family is still “frozen in grief”, unable to move on, said Liew, because they do not know whether Koh is dead or alive.

Advocate for justice

But while time has appeared to stand still, Liew has been untiring in her pursuit of justice for her husband and others.

Earlier this month, on March 4, Susanna Liew was named one of 12 International Women of Courage for 2020 (IWOC) by the US State Department.

Said the United States Embassy in Malaysia: “Liew actively pursued justice for her husband and others during the Malaysian Human Rights Commission’s 2018-2019 public inquiry into enforced disappearances and continues to push the government to investigate these cases and prosecute those responsible.

“Despite police harassment and death threats, she continues to advocate for her husband and others, not because of her faith or theirs, but because of their rights as Malaysians.”

The IWOC awards, which was  hosted by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, honours 12 extraordinary women in the world who have demonstrated exceptional courage of leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment at great personal risk and sacrifice.

Liew told Salt&Light she hopes that the award will keep the issue in the public eye and pressure authorities to take action.

“If basic human rights have been violated, we need to stand up and speak against it or else our silence will embolden the perpetrators,” says Liew, who this month was named one of 12 International Women of Courage for 2020 by the US State Department.

“Pastor Raymond is a human being and a citizen of a country. He has rights like right to life, movement, right to counsel, freedom to profess and practise his belief as enshrined in our Constitution. If he has committed anything wrong, he should be brought before a court of law.

“And if these basic human rights have been violated, we need to stand up and speak against it or else our silence will embolden the perpetrators,” she added, quoting Martin Luther King Jr,  who once said that “there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right”.

Liew, 63,  filed a civil suit last month against the government over the disappearance of Pastor Koh, 65, who had founded the non-governmental organisation, Harapan Komuniti.

She said her family had no other option but to turn to the courts to get justice and the truth in her husband’s case, of which the state police has allegedly been implicated.

Her lawyer explained that they could not wait any longer as any action to be taken against the government and public servants can only be taken within the first three years of the incident.

In April last year, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) concluded in a year-long public inquiry that the Special Branch of the Malaysian Police was behind the enforced disappearances of Pastor Koh and Muslim social activist Amri Che Mat.

Following the Suhakam’s findings, Malaysia Home Minister announced the formation of a task force to probe the findings in June last year but has yet to release its report.

Since then, Susanna has been travelling around the world to advocate for justice to be done for enforced disappearance cases.

An enforced disappearance refers to the arrest, detention or abduction of a person by agents of the state, after which the person’s fate or whereabouts are concealed.

Blessing those who persecute

The past three years following the abduction of her husband has taken its toll on her family, Liew said.

They have not able to grieve properly or move on because of the uncertainty of the circumstances.

Since Koh’s disappearance three years ago, Christians in Malaysia and globally have been holding candlelight vigils and prayer meetings to lend their support.

Despite having such a tragedy happen to her family, Liew said she has never been angry at God.

This incident has allowed her to apply Jesus’ teaching on blessing those who persecute you, she said. (Romans 12:14)

“There were times when I have to confess to God my wrong attitude towards the police … So I felt led to go and visit a police officer who was supposed to be hospitalised in a certain hospital,” she said.

“I went there with an expensive fruit basket and found out that he was not registered in that hospital. I could not visit him in the end but I tried.”

Came to Christ in Singapore

The Kohs have a link to Singapore.

Before Raymond Koh became a pastor and social worker in Malaysia, he used to work in Singapore with the multinational company Philips as a machinist, producing moulds for plastic injection in Jurong.

It was in Singapore that he decided to give his life to Jesus. Some of his colleagues at Philips were Christians and they invited him to a Brethren assembly one Sunday to watch The Eagles, a local Christian band that was popular in the seventies.

After the concert, Koh responded to the altar call and began attending Holy Light Presbyterian Church before eventually joining the Bible Presbyterian Church in Jurong.

From then on, his life was transformed. He managed to kick his gambling habit and started learning how to play the guitar instead.

Susanna Liew first met him during a conference in Singapore and onboard the Doulos, an Operation Mobilisation (OM) missionary ship that was then sailing the world.

However, both of them only fell in love with each other later on in 1981 when Liew helped out at the Mobilisation Fellowship Office, where Koh was the national director.

They now have three children: Jonathan, 35, Esther, 34, and Elizabeth, 23.

Setting up a shelter

Coming from a poor background, Koh set up Harapan Komuniti in Malaysia when he saw the need for a legally registered organisation to do social work among the Bottom 40% (B40) community.

Pastor Koh had a heart for the underprivileged, coming from a poor background himself.

He later went on to set up a reading centre for underprivileged students in Sri Sentosa, where drug addiction and gangsterism were prevalent.

Harapan’s work expanded eventually to include a shelter for people with HIV, a drug rehabilitation facility, support for single mothers and flood relief work.

The public inquiry had highlighted that religious issues was a common feature in the disappearance of Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat.

There is some concern that the missing persons could have been abducted by vigilantes who suspect them of trying to convert Muslims through Harapan’s work; Amri Che Mat was suspected to be spreading  Shi’ite beliefs. Both families have denied these allegations.  

The Islamic authorities in the country, which has a Sunni Muslim majority, ban the conversion of Malaysian Muslims to Christianity or Shi’ism.

Malay Christian pastor, Joshua Hilmy, and his wife, Ruth, were also reported missing by a close friend on March 6, 2017.

“We need to be strong and courageous”

These days, Liew spends her morning in prayer, worship and reading the Bible.

In the afternoons, she would plan her appointments, meet people or run errands.

Close to 10,000 copies of the book, “Where is Pastor Raymond Koh”, that gives a detailed account of the case and its background, has been sold.

Evenings are spent mostly at home where she does some jewelry craftwork, reads a book or attends various meetings.

God is and has been her refuge and strength, she said.

At a silent retreat at Seven Fountains in Thailand, which Liew visited three weeks after the abduction took place, God spoke to her through a song: “And I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand.”

At each trial and periods of testing, God has been using a song or  scripture to encourage her, she said.

For example, when she and her son were recalled for more questioning by the police after the setting up of the task force, God brought the song “I raise a Hallelujah” to Liew’s heart. After she sang that song, she felt  fear disappear and peace flooding  her  soul.

Sometimes, God also uses other people to speak to her through their visions, dreams and prayers.

One of them was a woman in Singapore who told her that she saw a kampung house on stilts and a man in white stretching his hands over her. She was chest deep in the water and there were others behind her. Isaiah 43 was given to her as reference.

Said Liew: “We know God has a purpose for our suffering, and one of it is to draw us closer to Him and strengthen our faith in Him. We pray together and at every meal, we remember Pastor Raymond and know that God will provide his every need, whether physical, emotional, mental or spiritual.”

Since Koh’s disappearance three years ago, Christians in Malaysia and globally have been holding candlelight vigils and prayer meetings to lend their support.

A book, entitled Where is Pastor Raymond Koh, that gives a detailed account of the case and its background, has been published. Close to 10,000 copies have been sold.

Susanna hopes Singaporeans can advocate for this cause by speaking up on social media and continue to keep the families of the missing persons in prayer.

“Please keep us in your prayers, that all four missing persons will be released immediately, that perpetrators will be brought to justice, that the government will have the political will to do what is right and  for protection for our family and lawyers as we proceed with the civil suit,” said Liew.

“We may have to wait for a long time but justice will come. We need to be strong and courageous … to make life better for the next person, the next generation.”