A Chinese student from Singapore was kidnapped after crossing into Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The 18-year-old’s parents got ransom calls demanding 3.5 million yuan ($620,000) with death threats.
Malaysian newspaper China Press reports the student is from Foshan, Guangdong Province, and attends Singapore Institute of Management. His parents, 40-year-old Ms. Cheng and 43-year-old Mr. Ye, operate a business in Dubai.
The parents received a call from their son’s QQ account last Friday (May 2, 2025) at 11:44 AM. The call included footage showing their son being beaten and choked by Chinese nationals.
The kidnappers first asked for 500,000 yuan ($89,000). Hours later, they sent another video of torture and raised their demand by 3 million yuan ($530,000). They threatened to kill him and sell his organs if payment wasn’t made.
Ms. Cheng and Mr. Ye alerted police right away and flew to Singapore the same day. They learned their son had entered Malaysia on April 30, 2025.
The couple then traveled to Kuala Lumpur and filed a police report with help from Mr. Victor Wong, special assistant to Pahang’s Consumer Affairs and Human Resources Committee chairman.
The parents said their son began studying in Singapore last October. He lives near his school with five roommates. He hadn’t attended classes for a week before his disappearance.
Ms. Cheng discovered from her son’s classmate that he played online games the night before entering Malaysia (April 29, 2025). His phone’s last known location was in Singapore’s Orchard Road area.
“Though my husband and I are busy with work, plus the time difference means we rarely contact our son, who lives far away, he has always been independent and well-behaved, which gives us peace of mind,” she said.
Malaysian police arrested a suspect within 48 hours of receiving the report and rescued the teenager safely. No ransom was paid.
