COMMENT | On April 9, 2025, Pamela Ling, a mother of three, disappeared on her way to a scheduled appointment at the MACC.

According to witness reports, her e-hailing ride was intercepted by multiple unknown vehicles, and she was allegedly forced into another car. Since then, there has been no word from her.

Her sudden and mysterious vanishing echoes the disappearances of other individuals in Malaysia, including Pastor Raymond Koh, Amri Che Mat, and the couple Joshua Hilmy and Ruth Sitepu, which have shaken public confidence and raised alarm among international human rights observers.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), in its 2019 factsheet, cited Malaysia’s record of religious freedom violations and enforced disappearances as “systematic, ongoing, and egregious”.

USCIRF, whose mission is to defend international freedom of religion or belief, placed Malaysia in Tier 2 of its global rankings, a tier reserved for states that tolerate serious violations of this fundamental right.