'Nowhere is safe': Singaporeans stranded in Nepal shaken by unrest but staying positive

SINGAPORE: After saying goodbye to her family in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, last Friday (Sep 5), Singaporean IT professional Ms Yeow was looking forward to a fun and relaxing trip in the country with her friend from Malaysia.

Her husband and two sons had a separate travel agenda - they were planning to spend the next five days hiking to Annapurna Base Camp, before descending and reuniting with Ms Yeow, who only wanted to be identified by her last name.

Ms Yeow, 52, and her friend spent three days in Kathmandu, before flying to the city of Pokhara on Sunday, where they planned to stay another three days.

On Tuesday, they were sitting at a cafe near their hotel and having coffee when “very loud” noises broke out in the distance, she told CNA. She recalled a crowd carrying flags was marching steadily in her direction.

Ms Yeow did not know it then, but a protest was starting to break out.

“The shops around one by one all started to lower their shutters. The cafe manager told us we are safe inside the cafe and they closed the shutters,” she said.

What she was witnessing was a ripple of Nepal's worst unrest in decades, which kicked off on Monday, leaving at least 19 people dead. 

Young demonstrators in Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal took to the streets to protest against corruption and a social media ban, eventually forcing the resignation of prime minister KP Sharma Oli.

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has since advised Singaporeans to defer non-essential travel to Nepal, describing the situation as an “uncertain and volatile situation”.
 

"VERY HOPELESS"

After seeking safety in the cafe for some time, Ms Yeow and her friend hurried back to their hotel, still in shock as they passed fires and toppled barricades along the way.

“From the hotel balcony, we saw people throwing rocks at certain shops - just a few shops from the hotel entrance - there was glass everywhere and the danger seemed to be getting nearer,” she said.  

“I had a sense of safety on the fifth floor of the hotel room as the riots happened below. I was still feeling curious and excited to witness it so closely, but not overly afraid.”

But that quickly morphed into real fear and panic when, on top of the sounds of screams and sticks beating, an explosion occurred nearby.

“There was a loud explosion and the hotel shook. I went to the balcony and saw a hotel not too far away on fire with billowing black smoke.”

“That’s when I realised nowhere is safe, not even on the top floors, not even if we are tourists,” she told CNA, adding that the power and internet stopped working later that night as “rioters burnt the power facilities”.

"My friend and I packed our essentials items, like our passports, in case we needed to run. We locked the room door, latched it, drew the curtains and turned off any lights.

“I felt very hopeless, without power and internet from the hotel, my phone battery can only last that long before we lose contact.

"Nothing is certain, it’s just waiting and get ready to leave,” Ms Yeow said. 

A LESSON TO "TAKE IT EASY"

Ms Yeow would later find a small measure of comfort when power was restored at the hotel. She has since been able to contact family members back home, but mobile connection up in the mountain range has been unstable and she still fears for her husband and children's safety.

As of Thursday, they remain stuck in the mountains, grounded by bad weather, with helicopters unable to fly in to bring them back to Pokhara.

Speaking to CNA from Annapurna Base Camp, Ms Yeow’s husband, Mr Sam Roberts, said he was supposed to board a helicopter on Wednesday with his two sons and four other Singaporeans.

The seven of them had climbed 4,130m to raise awareness for mental health suicide prevention. 

“The internet was completely down this morning and the weather’s been very bad,” he said. “We don’t know what is happening and we don’t know when we will get a helicopter out.”

“It's very cold, too cloudy, we can't see anything. (It’s) completely misty,” the psychologist added. 

The group decided to hike to Machhapuchhre Base Camp on Thursday afternoon, about 3km and two hours away, in hopes of better phone reception and support.

Both Ms Yeow and Mr Roberts have been in touch with MFA and the Singapore High Commission in New Delhi to find a way to be reunited - and to leave Nepal. But doing so remains a challenge.

Nonetheless, Mr Roberts said he remains optimistic that things will take a turn for the better.

“I’m encouraging everyone to take it easy and see this as a life learning experience for my boys. I’m teaching them that things can be unpredictable, life gets difficult, but we have to take it easy and just rest and wait,” he said. 

“Internally, as a father you are concerned, but you need to keep yourself positive to make them feel positive.”