‘Entirely my choice’: S’porean woman found in Cambodia says she went there to teach English
Siti Aishah Siregar Sahat Siregar, the 20-year-old Singaporean woman who was reported missing earlier this week and subsequently found in Cambodia, has said that she travelled there voluntarily with plans to become an English teacher.
Aishah made the remarks in a 1 min 16 sec video posted on Facebook by The Phnom Penh Post on Aug 1.
It is unclear when or where the video was recorded.
Dressed in a black T-shirt and white hoodie, Aishah said she had found her living situation in Singapore “stressful” and wanted to forge her own path.
“That is why... I decided to leave on my own and come to Cambodia (to work) as an English teacher,” she said.
She added that the decision was “entirely my choice” and denied that she had been coerced, trafficked or scammed into travelling overseas.
“I have not been involved or forced to partake in any scam or criminal activities,” she said at the end of the video. The video ends with her nodding at the person recording the video.
‘Please help bring my daughter home’
Aishah’s father, Sahat Siregar, had appealed for help in a Facebook post on July 30 after the family lost contact with her. The post has since been taken down.
Sahat said Aishah was believed to have travelled alone from Singapore to Phnom Penh on July 28.
In a separate post by her aunt Lynn Siregar, she said the family was “not aware of any planned occasion or known reason” for Aishah to be in Cambodia.
Her older brother, Syafiq Siregar, told CNA that her last message to their mother said she was going to school on the morning of July 28.
However, when the family later prepared to pick her up as usual, they discovered that her WhatsApp and Telegram accounts had been deleted and that her phone line was no longer active.
According to CNA, emails examined by the family also showed that Aishah had transferred hundreds of dollars to an unknown individual in the days before her disappearance.
Syafiq said the name matched that of someone Aishah had been gaming with online for more than a year
Located safely by Cambodian authorities
Cambodian immigration officials and Phnom Penh police later located Aishah at TK Avenue in the capital’s Toul Kork district.
Cambodian Interior Ministry spokesman Touch Sokhak said authorities found no indication that she had been unlawfully detained or kidnapped.
He said Aishah had told officials that she left Singapore while under emotional stress and switched off her phone to avoid being contacted by her family.
After arriving in Cambodia, she reportedly became anxious about her decision and contacted the Cambodian authorities after learning that she had been reported missing.
In a reply to Stomp on Aug 1, the Singapore police confirmed that Aishah had been found safe by the Cambodian National Police.
The police said they had contacted their Cambodian counterparts for further information and to provide assistance where appropriate.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Singapore Embassy in Phnom Penh were also providing consular support to the family.
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