Malaysian High Commissioner Diplomat Missing In Australia

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31085, 14 June 1966, Page 17

Malaysian High Commissioner Diplomat Missing In Australia

(XZ. Press Association—Copyright)

CANBERRA, June 13.

Fears are now held for the safey of the missing diplomat, the High Commissioner for Malaysia in Australia, Tun Lim Yew Hock, said a member of the High Commission staff, Mr Ajit Singh. A state-wide search is being held for the High Commissioner. He left Canberra by air at about 12.45 p.m. last Friday for an unkown destination.

Tun Lim is also the Malaysian High Commissioner to New Zealand. Mr Singh said the High Commissioner had been ill for some time. Pressure of work over the last 2} years during Indonesian confrontation is believed to have caused Tun Lim's illness.

Mr Ajit Singh said today: “We are becoming more and more anxious as time goes on and are fearing for his safety. “He has been ill for some time. “He went away for a rest—but he didn’t tell us where. 1. Tun Lim is believed to be somewhere in New South Wales, possibly Sydney. The police radio VKG broadcast a missing persons report on Tun Lim to all State police this morning. Government Told The High Commision in Canberra has sent a cable to Kuala Lumpur informing the Malaysian Government of Tun Lim’s absence. The High Commissioner was needed in Canberra urgently to deal with an important matter, staff said. Tun Lim Yew Hock had been expected back in Kuala Lumpur in a few days’ time to begin a fortnight’s leave before taking up his new post as Ambassador in Rome. Appeal Made Tun Lim’s wife, Toh Puan Lim Yew Hock, asked the High Commission to circulate an appeal to Tun Lim through newspapers and radio stations.

She said: “Your wife and children are very anxious and very worried. They miss you very much.” A High Commission spokesman said that the High Commissioner’s wife had been just as ill as Tun Lim —if not more so. She also had been receiving medical attention for some time. No Baggage Police confirmed today that the High Commissioner went to Sydney last Friday. His chauffeur drove him to Canberra city. A Canberra reporter, who knew Tun Lim,

i said he saw him buy an airline ticket for cash under another name and travel to Sydney. He said the High Commis:sioner was carrying no bagigage and was wearing an open-neck shirt with a sports jacket. The High Commissioner’s eldest daughter, Miss Shirley

Lim, aged 25, went to Sydney on Saturday and personally checked at all the places where her father usually stayed.