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eafront chalets built on stilts over the sea are the ultimate in sea-front stays, stretching far out into the coastal waters and offering luxurious accommodation. Sea villas are the playground of the rich and famous, local and foreign. But last year, the sea villas in Semporna and Mabul, Sabah, made the news for all the wrong reasons.

Last year in November, the serenity of the Pom Pom island resort near Semporna was intruded upon when unidentified armed men killed a Taiwanese tourist and abducted his wife. The resort was a 30-minute boat ride away from the international waters bordering islands off the Philippines. Another abduction incident at a resort, off Semporna, involving two women, a Filipina staff and a Chinese tourist, has been classified as a '€œkidnap for ransom'€ case.

The intruders came in from the sea at night in two boats and abducted both the foreign women. Though both resorts have been operating for more than a few years, the abductions were their first. The sea villas are exposed to the wide expanse of the sea. This year in May, two people were abducted from a seaside resort in Sandakan by Abu Sayyaf rebels.

One of them was released on Nov. 8 after an undisclosed sum of money was believed to have being given to the captors. The other victim was beheaded when negotiations failed. The nation is still reeling from the shock and brutality of the episode. Security around the seaside and dive resorts has to be stepped up. Many operators of dive resorts in Sabah have reported a dip in business after the abductions. There are also many sea villas sprouting in Peninsular Malaysia. Among the famous ones are the Legend Water Chalets, Lexis Port Dickson and Avillion Port Dickson, and the Sepang Gold Coast Resort or Golden Palm Tree Resort.

Samuel Yesuiah
New Straits Times/Kuala Lumpur