“My daughter said she misses her mom. Before going to school in the morning, she said she wanted to tell her mom to call in the evening because she wants to talk to her.”
On the 26th, a massive landslide occurred in the Himalayan area bordering Nepal and Tibet, China. The resulting mudslides blocked rivers and caused severe flooding. As of 9 p.m. on the 27th, Nepalese authorities had confirmed that nine Singaporean citizens were missing in the disaster.
According to a report by Lianhe Zaobao, one of the missing persons is 40-year-old Singaporean woman Shalinee. Her husband, Selvan Ganesh, told the paper that this was his wife’s first time joining a pilgrimage group to Nepal. The last message he received from her was around 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday. At the time, she said she had cleared immigration at the Nepal-China border and would send him an update when she had the chance.
Selvan Ganesh said he and his wife have been married for 10 years and have a 7-year-old daughter. On Wednesday night, he told their daughter that her mother was missing. The daughter only said that she missed her mom and planned to remind her before school to make sure to call home that evening.
Choking up, he said: “I don’t know what else I can tell her.”
On Wednesday evening, a friend texted asking if his wife was safe, which was how he first learned about the flooding. He tried to locate his wife using Apple’s ‘Find My’ app, but the only information was that her last location was at the Nepal-China border. “I pray she is safe. I don’t know what else I can do.”
It is reported that Shalinee and a 66-year-old Singaporean man, Maniam, joined a pilgrimage group run by Malaysian travel agency ‘Spectrum Horizon Travels.’ They were the only two Singaporeans in the group, with the rest coming from Malaysia. The entire trip was about 15 days, starting from last Sunday (the 23rd).
Brother Missing, Younger Brother Hopes for Safe Return
Maniam's younger brother, who declined to be named, told Lianhe Zaobao that this was not his brother’s first pilgrimage. Before the trip, Maniam exercised at four or five in the morning every day to physically prepare for the 15-day journey.
The family last received a message from Maniam around 8 a.m. on Wednesday: “At the time, he said they would be entering an area without a signal, and expected to reach the Chinese border by about 1 p.m.”
Maniam’s brother said Maniam is married with three adult children. The family has contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We're prepared to fly over at any time, but MFA said it's not safe at the moment and advised us to continue waiting for news. There’s not much more we can do now—just keep praying and hope my brother returns safely.”