Search continues for missing Duke-NUS student
BREAKING NEWS by Jessica Li
6 October 2011
What meant to be a regular medical conference trip to Greece has turned into a distressing nine days for Mr Kouk Leong Jin’s family. Mr. Kouk, a fourth-year student from the Duke-NUS Medical School, has not been contactable since 27 September 2011, a day after he arrived in Athens for the conference.
The 28-year-old was scheduled to attend the conference in Athens. However, a day before the conference, Mr. Kouk went missing and last contacted his friend on the same day. All further attempts to contact him have proven futile.
The search for Mr. Kouk gained momentum when friends leveraged on the reach of social networking site, Facebook. A request was posted on the site for information on Mr. Kouk and possibly his whereabouts. Many users had passed on the said request and scores of messages expressing support ensued.
Greek police have since ruled out the possibility of a kidnapping as investigations have yield some results, potentially shedding some light on the mystery surrounding Mr. Kouk’s disappearance as reported by the Straits Times on 6 October 2011.
While Mr. Kouk remains missing, efforts to locate him are still ongoing. When contacted a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that the search was still under way.
“We are working closely with the Greek authorities, primarily through the Singapore Honorary Consulate in Athens as well as through INTERPOL channels and the Greek Ambassador to Singapore, to locate Mr. Kouk,” Mr. Gabriel Liow, assistant director for the Public Affairs Directorate said.
While the authorities and law enforcement agencies have been informed regarding Mr. Kouk’s disappearance, Mr. Kouk’s wife has also arrived in Greece to aid in the search for her husband. In a ten-minute broadcast on Greece’s leading television station, Mdm. Seow appealed for any information on her husband’s whereabouts. She believes he might have gone missing on one of the Greek islands he had earlier expressed interest in visiting.
Mr. Ranga Krishnan, dean of the Duke-NUS Medical School has also expressed that the school has established an emergency response team, comprising the senior administrator who has been on the ground assisting Mr. Kouk’s family in Greece since Sunday. “Collectively, the teams in Athens and Singapore are doing everything we can in our effort to find Leong Jin,” Mr. Krishnan said.
6 October 2011
What meant to be a regular medical conference trip to Greece has turned into a distressing nine days for Mr Kouk Leong Jin’s family. Mr. Kouk, a fourth-year student from the Duke-NUS Medical School, has not been contactable since 27 September 2011, a day after he arrived in Athens for the conference.
The 28-year-old was scheduled to attend the conference in Athens. However, a day before the conference, Mr. Kouk went missing and last contacted his friend on the same day. All further attempts to contact him have proven futile.
The search for Mr. Kouk gained momentum when friends leveraged on the reach of social networking site, Facebook. A request was posted on the site for information on Mr. Kouk and possibly his whereabouts. Many users had passed on the said request and scores of messages expressing support ensued.
Greek police have since ruled out the possibility of a kidnapping as investigations have yield some results, potentially shedding some light on the mystery surrounding Mr. Kouk’s disappearance as reported by the Straits Times on 6 October 2011.
While Mr. Kouk remains missing, efforts to locate him are still ongoing. When contacted a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that the search was still under way.
“We are working closely with the Greek authorities, primarily through the Singapore Honorary Consulate in Athens as well as through INTERPOL channels and the Greek Ambassador to Singapore, to locate Mr. Kouk,” Mr. Gabriel Liow, assistant director for the Public Affairs Directorate said.
While the authorities and law enforcement agencies have been informed regarding Mr. Kouk’s disappearance, Mr. Kouk’s wife has also arrived in Greece to aid in the search for her husband. In a ten-minute broadcast on Greece’s leading television station, Mdm. Seow appealed for any information on her husband’s whereabouts. She believes he might have gone missing on one of the Greek islands he had earlier expressed interest in visiting.
Mr. Ranga Krishnan, dean of the Duke-NUS Medical School has also expressed that the school has established an emergency response team, comprising the senior administrator who has been on the ground assisting Mr. Kouk’s family in Greece since Sunday. “Collectively, the teams in Athens and Singapore are doing everything we can in our effort to find Leong Jin,” Mr. Krishnan said.