Missing hiking family in Kelantan mountains never stayed out more than a day, says grandpa — now it’s been four, maybe without food

Missing hiking family in Kelantan mountains never stayed out more than a day, says grandpa — now it’s been four, maybe without food



For illustration only. A multi-agency rescue team is searching Gunung Trans Gerah in Kelantan for a family of four and their two mountain guides who are four days overdue to exit the trail. — Picture from Facebook/Bernama


Summary

• Wan Zairudin Wan Ismail is deeply concerned about his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren who have been missing since failing to return from a hike in the Kelantan forest as planned.
• The family's last communication indicated they were safe but have since ceased all contact, prompting worries about potential injuries and food shortages.
• A search and rescue operation, including helicopter assistance, has been launched following a police report filed by Wan Zairudin.
• The family was attempting a challenging route unfamiliar to them, contributing to fears of possible difficulties encountered during their expedition.

By Malay Mail
First Published: Monday, 07 Sep 2026 3:54 PM MYT


KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — The silence from his son’s family has left Wan Zairudin Wan Ismail fearing that something may have gone wrong during their hike through the Kelantan forest.

His son Wan Ahmad Aslam, 39, daughter-in-law Siti Zulaiha Norizan, 39, grandchildren Diya Raisha, 13, and Ahmad Raef, 9, and their two mountain guides have been missing since failing to emerge from the forest as scheduled last Thursday.


“I am worried that someone may have been injured,” Wan Zairudin, 66, who lives in Shah Alam, Selangor, was quoted by The New Straits Times as saying today.


The family was last heard from on September 1, when Siti Zulaiha messaged her mother-in-law to say they were safe and expected to reach Pos Kemar in Perak two days later.


Wan Zairudin is also concerned that the group may be running out of food, as their supplies were expected to last only six or seven days.

The six were reported missing after they failed to return as scheduled and repeated attempts to contact them were unsuccessful.

Wan Zairudin lodged a police report at the Bukit Jelutong police station in Shah Alam two days ago.


The Fire and Rescue Department launched a search and rescue operation today, including a helicopter-assisted search to locate the group and trace the route they were believed to have taken.

“My son is a project manager in Yong Peng, Johor, while my daughter-in-law works in Simpang Renggam. They often go hiking with their two children, and the longest they had ever stayed in the forest beyond their scheduled exit was just one day,” he said.

“This time, however, it is worrying as they have now gone four days without sufficient food.”

Wan Zairudin said he had sent the family to Terminal Bersepadu Selatan in Cheras on Aug 29 to catch a bus to Gua Musang, while their car was left at his home in Shah Alam.

The family was due to return by bus from either Gerik or Kuala Kangsar last Thursday before travelling back to Yong Peng, with the children expected to return to school after the holidays ended yesterday.

Wan Zairudin said his son had chosen the Trans GBB route, which he had never attempted before, as part of his plan to complete several mountain expeditions in Malaysia before taking his family to climb Mount Kinabalu next year.

“I am worried that someone may have been injured, perhaps suffering a sprained ankle and being unable to move. Without outside help, it would be difficult for them to get out of the forest,” he said.

Wan Zairudin said the family knew Trans GBB was among the more challenging hiking routes.

He and his wife planned to travel to Gerik today, where search and rescueoperations room had been set up, to seek the latest updates on their family.

Two Fridays to go? Melaka CM Ab Rauf drops biggest hint yet on state assembly dissolution

Two Fridays to go? Melaka CM Ab Rauf drops biggest hint yet on state assembly dissolution



Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh has signalled that the state legislative assembly could be dissolved by the end of September 2026, paving the way for a state election. — Bernama pic


Summary

• Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh suggested that the state legislative assembly might be dissolved by the end of September, potentially initiating a state election.
• This statement, reported by Harian Metro, indicates that an announcement could occur within two weeks.
• His comments align with a recent call from Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who advocated for a timely dissolution to enable the electorate, especially young voters, to determine the state's future.

By Malay Mail
First Published: Monday, 07 Sep 2026 4:17 PM MYT


MELAKA, Sept 7 — Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh today hinted that the state legislative assembly could be dissolved by the end of this month, paving the way for a state election.

The Melaka Barisan Nasional chairman said the dissolution would come in “two more Fridays”, suggesting an announcement could be made within the next two weeks, Harian Metro reported.

“Not long now. I said four Fridays the other day, but now there are only two Fridays left,” he was quoted saying during at a community programme in Sungai Udang here.

His remarks came a day after Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi urged Ab Rauf to speed up the dissolution announcement to allow the people, particularly young voters, to decide the state’s future.

Four helicopter passes, 30km downstream – still no sign of Malaysians missing in flood-hit Nepal

Four helicopter passes, 30km downstream – still no sign of Malaysians missing in flood-hit Nepal



An aerial view shows a car stuck in a landslide in the aftermath of flash floods at Syabrubesi in Nepal’s Rasuwa district on September 3, 2026. The 17 Malaysians have remained uncontactable since flash floods struck Rasuwa – among the worst hit areas – with search efforts continuing to locate them. — AFP pic


Summary

• A helicopter search conducted for 17 missing Malaysians, who disappeared after flash floods in Nepal's Rasuwa district, has yielded no results, with neither the group, their belongings, nor the six vehicles they traveled in being located.
• Despite multiple aerial passes and ground searches in affected areas, including a nearby forest and downstream regions, the team found no trace of the missing individuals.
• Efforts to identify any injured members in hospitals or among recovered bodies have also been unsuccessful, although the search operation remains ongoing.
• The group consisted of 27 tourists and was accompanied by seven Nepali crew members and six drivers.

By Malay Mail
First Published: Monday, 07 Sep 2026 11:47 AM MYT
Last Modified: Monday, 07 Sep 2026 11:47 AM MYT


KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — A helicopter search for 17 Malaysians who have been missing nearly two weeks since flash floods hit Nepal’s Rasuwa district has found no trace of the group, their belongings or the six vehicles they were travelling in.

Fishtail Tours & Travels representative Roshan Panday said the helicopter made four passes over the area where the vehicles were swept away but found nothing, The New Straits Times reported today.


“It seems the current was at maximum power when it reached that particular spot,” he told the newspaper.


Roshan said several houses had stood near the site, but the force of the floodwaters had left no visible remains of the buildings.


The search team also checked a nearby forest, although it appeared unlikely that the group had managed to reach the area, he said.

The helicopter then flew at low altitude along a 30km stretch downstream from the site but found nothing believed to belong to the missing group.

Meanwhile, the agency split its office team into three groups to search hospitals for any injured members of the group, but none had been found.


The team also checked bodies recovered from the disaster, but none had so far been positively identified as members of the group.

“Search is still on,” Roshan was quoted as saying.



People help a vehicle navigate a damaged, muddy road leading to remote Rasuwa after flash floods in Nepal’s Nuwakot district on September 4, 2026. — AFP pic



The group was travelling in six vehicles carrying 27 tourists, including 17 Malaysians, two Americans and a Briton.

They were accompanied by seven Nepali crew members, including a doctor who volunteered to provide medical support to the 20 tourists travelling to high altitude.

Six drivers were also part of the convoy, bringing the total number of people involved to 33.

The 17 Malaysians have remained uncontactable since flash floods struck Rasuwa – among the worst hit areas – with search efforts continuing to locate them.

Roshan said on September 1 that the agency would deploy a private helicopter to search for the missing Malaysians.

Police confirm RM27.5m drug syndicate crippled with main suspect shot dead

Police confirm RM27.5m drug syndicate crippled with main suspect shot dead



Bukit Aman NCID director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said in the raid, the 52-year-old main suspect was shot dead after he acted aggressively by firing shots at the raiding team at a terraced house in this district at about 1.30 pm. — Picture by Raymond Manuel


Summary

• The Royal Malaysia Police's Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department dismantled a drug syndicate producing RM27.5 million worth of MDMA in Seremban and Kuala Lumpur.
• The main suspect was shot dead during a raid after aggressively firing at the police, and the operation revealed a drug lab in a rented house.
• Police arrested two individuals in separate raids, seized three cars, and believe the bust could prevent drugs from reaching over 400,000 users.

First Published: Monday, 07 Sep 2026 3:48 PM MYT


SEREMBAN, Sept 7 — The Royal Malaysia Police’s (PDRM) Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) crippled a drug processing syndicate suspected of producing Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) worth a total of RM27.5 million in this district and Kuala Lumpur in Op Thrips yesterday.

Bukit Aman NCID director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said in the raid, the 52-year-old main suspect was shot dead after he acted aggressively by firing shots at the raiding team at a terraced house in this district at about 1.30 pm.

He said the house rented by the suspect had been used as a laboratory to process the drugs since early this year, adding that police seized suspected MDMA comprising 64.49 kilogrammes (kg) of liquid, 5.2kg of drug lumps, 7.9kg of drug pills, 104.8kg of drug powder, as well as various drug-processing equipment.


“We believe the suspect obtained the drugs with the assistance of other syndicate members by bringing in drug-processing precursors from abroad.


“The suspect who was shot dead also had the expertise to process these chemicals into MDMA or ecstasy,” he said at a press conference at the Seremban district police headquarters (IPD) here today.

It was believed that the suspect had extensive experience, as his involvement in drug-related activities had been detected since the 1990s, in addition to having three previous arrest and imprisonment records under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

Hussein said the main suspect was also wanted under Section 3(1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961, in addition to having a previous criminal record under Section 448 of the Penal Code.


He added that the syndicate’s modus operandi was to use residential areas with low population density as locations for processing and distributing drugs to conceal their activities from the authorities.

Hussein said the drugs were believed to be intended for the local and overseas markets, while police were now actively tracking down several more suspects believed to have fled abroad.

Meanwhile, he said police also conducted two separate raids in Seremban 2 and at a house in Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur, which led to the arrest of a 32-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man.

Both the woman and man tested positive for methamphetamine and THC, respectively, and both had various previous criminal records, including drug-related offences. They were remanded for seven days until Sept 13.

Hussein said police also seized three cars and that the case was being investigated under Section 307 of the Penal Code and Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

He said the seizure could indirectly curb the distribution of drugs to more than 400,000 users. — Bernama

 

Rise and fall and rise again of Umno-PAS relations

Rise and fall and rise again of Umno-PAS relations

4 hours ago

Letter to the Editor

History has shown that there are no guarantees that an alliance between the two parties would not eventually fall apart.

From Moaz Nair

Formal Umno-PAS political relations go back to the time the Islamic party was integrated with Barisan Nasional in 1973. However, this collaboration culminated in friction, which subsequently led to the declaration of a state of emergency in Kelantan in 1977.

Four decades later, in the wake of the 2018 general election, the two parties formalised a renewed alliance, known as Muafakat Nasional which eventually reached an impasse when PAS elected to form Perikatan Nasional alongside Bersatu, a strategic manoeuvre that encountered vehement opposition from Umno.

Despite top-tier leadership efforts to push for a MN 2.0 or initiate partnerships under the “Rumah Bangsa” initiative, grassroots factions and leaders from both echelons concede that such reunification lacks sustainability if it remains merely seasonal and transactional for electoral gains.

History has shown that there are no guarantees that an alliance between Umno and PAS would not eventually fall apart.

History has also shown that, although Umno and PAS may draw from the same Malay-Muslim voter base, their relationship has often shifted. They have alternated between working together and confronting each other, depending on changing power dynamics and political survival.

Although “ummah unity” is often invoked to promote political stability, several structural issues could still reignite discord between the two parties.

Demographic and geographic overlap

The two parties have historically engaged in zero-sum competition within the same voter enclaves, specifically rural, Malay-majority constituencies. Consequently, the delineation of parliamentary and state assembly seats regularly precipitates hierarchical friction.

Deadlocks routinely emerge when determining incumbency or candidacy rights in areas designated as “winnable seats”, a phenomenon previously observed during initialisation of the MN framework.

Power and leadership hegemony

Establishing the supreme leadership hierarchy, particularly concerning the premiership, remains a highly contentious point of friction.

Should PAS secure a larger parliamentary bloc than Umno, questions over who should lead the alliance could trigger intense internal power struggles and destabilise the partnership.

The trust deficit

Based on past political developments, Umno leaders remain cautious and sceptical of PAS’s calls for unity. Sentiments regarding a “breach of trust” are frequently resurrected due to PAS’s strategic pivot toward Bersatu within Perikatan Nasional.

This multi-alignment strategy, defined by a propensity to switch partners to secure political survival, directly exacerbates deep-seated institutional mistrust between the two parties.

Ideological divergence

Umno has traditionally leaned toward technocracy, economic development, and state-centric pragmatic policies.

Its political approach is ostensibly secular-nationalist and inclusive, as evidenced by its long-standing history of inter-ethnic cooperation with the MCA and MIC since pre-independence days.

Conversely, PAS prioritises Islamism as its foundational ideology, relying on an electoral doctrine rooted predominantly in a single ethnic demographic. This ideological divergence frequently engenders socio-political polemics during the formulation of public policy.

Strategic dilemma

Umno loyalists and political analysts currently face a strategic dilemma regarding proposed alliances with PAS. Umno’s political hegemony since independence has relied substantially on its capacity to capture non-Malay swing votes, particularly in straight-fight scenarios against PAS.

Closer alignment with PAS risks alienating non-Malay voters, a trajectory exemplified by the electoral marginalisation of Gerakan after integrating into PN.

Furthermore, realistic anxieties persist that Umno risks being integrated or subverted by PAS, given that PAS currently commands a superior grassroots machinery and a significantly larger parliamentary presence.

This structural reality threatens to relegate Umno to “junior partner” status, exposing the party to gradual marginalisation compared to the relatively egalitarian power balance they maintained in 2019.

Politics is about pragmatism, meaning no alliance or rivalry lasts forever.

While Umno and PAS possess the capacity to forge new alignments based on the shared imperative of countering a common political enemy, their capacity to sustain such cooperation remains fragile.

Who urged for foreign intervention into Malaysian affaors?

From Google A1:

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad called for foreign pressure in April 2016 to help remove then-Prime Minister Najib Razak amid the 1MDB scandal. [1]

Context of the Appeal

Domestic Avenues Blocked: Mahathir stated that he normally opposed foreign interference, but claimed local channels for justice were completely closed. [1]
Targeting Najib: The campaign aimed to pressure Najib Razak into stepping down or facing removal from power over financial corruption allegations. [1]
Unusual Alliances: He cooperated with political rivals and opposition leaders, including Anwar Ibrahim, to achieve this goal. [1]

Reactions

Government Criticism: Najib’s administration and allies labeled Mahathir’s appeal as a desperate and unpatriotic act that undermined national sovereignty.

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Salleh: Mahathir's urging for foreign intervention a desperate act

Published: Apr 9, 2016 7:00 PM
Updated: Apr 10, 2016 9:07 AM



Communication and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak has called former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's urging for foreign pressure to get Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to step down "a final desperate act".

"This is an alarming new development and I am very surprised that Mahathir should even suggest this," he wrote in a blog post today.

He related that back when Mahathir was the PM, any foreign country or government that said anything about Malaysia, would have borne the brunt of Mahathir's caustic retaliation, telling them that they have no business interfering in our domestic affairs.

In fact, Salleh said that during Mahathir’s time, if any local political activist were to work with a foreign government to criticise Malaysia, he or she would be detained on grounds of "treason" and accused of working with foreign powers to bring down the democratically elected government.

"Mahathir is now saying that the end justifies the means and that we must do anything possible just as long as we meet our objectives of bringing down the prime minister outside the constitutional process.

"In that case no leader is safe if all we need to do to topple a leader is to invite foreign powers to interfere in the country’s domestic matters," sniped the minister.

Salleh hoped that Mahathir is not purposely trying to set himself for arrest to gain public sympathy when he told The Weekend Australian that there was little hope that Najib would step down without outside pressure.

Mahathir had reportedly said that while he normally don’t like foreign interference in Malaysian affairs, the avenues for redress locally has been closed completely, requiring foreign pressure to help see Najib step down or removed from power.

The good doctor has been unceasing in his campaign to urge Najib's resignation or removal, even working hand in hand with his former rivals in the opposition, including allying with his former deputy and present PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, to do so.

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3 years later when he became PMVII 😂😂😂

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Malaysian PM Mahathir warns against foreign meddling in Asean



Malaysia will not take sides in rivalries between major powers, and won't rely on military alliances or strategic partnerships, Dr Mahathir said.

PHOTO: REUTERS


Published Feb 23, 2019, 01:46 PM



KUALA LUMPUR (BLOOMBERG) - South-east Asian countries should guard against the involvement of big powers in the region, as such meddling may fuel conflict and lead to an arms race, according to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Drawing on the example of conflict in the Middle East, Dr Mahathir said if major powers were allowed to intervene in the region, countries would face pressure to stock up on weapons and fight each other.
That would destabilise the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (Asean), he added.

His remarks appeared in the text of a speech to be delivered on Saturday (Feb 23) on his behalf by Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah at a conference in Kuala Lumpur.

"We are already beginning to see the seeds of confrontation and rivalry in our region," Dr Mahathir said.

"Lines are being drawn. Bases are being built. Armadas are being readied. The pressure is on to take sides."

Malaysia will not take sides in rivalries between major powers, and won't rely on military alliances or strategic partnerships, Dr Mahathir said.