Singaporean Medical Student Goes Missing in Athens

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is working closely with the Greek authorities to look for a fourth-year Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School student who is believed to be missing in Athens, Greece.
An MFA spokesman told TODAY that the ministry is doing so through the Singapore Honorary Consulate in Athens, the Greek Ambassador to Singapore and INTERPOL channels to locate Singaporean Kouk Leong Jin, 28.
“We are aware of this case and are very concerned … We have been keeping in close touch with Mr Kouk’s family and will do all we can to assist the family,” said the spokesman.
Mr Kouk’s family and friends have not heard from him for almost a week. They have set up a Facebook page to solicit information on his whereabouts. Via the social networking site, some Singaporeans living in Athens have also come on board to help keep a lookout for Mr Kouk on the streets of the Greek capital.
Mr Kouk had arrived in Athens last Monday to attend a medical conference at the Megaron Athens International Conference Centre.
On the same day, his wife, Ms Seow Shu Ping, received an e-mail from him informing that he had arrived in the country. He was staying in the Golden Age Hotel in downtown Athens and was due to fly home on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Mr Kouk’s friend, who was also attending the conference, got a missed call from him. Mr Kouk failed to turn up at the conference.
Mr Kouk’s family contacted the MFA on Thursday, and a police report was made the next day. Ms Seow, who married Mr Kouk two weeks ago, flew to Athens last night with his family to look for him.
Her sister, Shu Ling, told Today: “My sister is the first one who realised something was amiss. Since then she has been emotionally unstable. I hope Leong Jin’s family and she will stay strong and calm when they are at Athens.”
Ms Seow had told Lianhe Zaobao that Mr Kouk mentioned in his e-mail that he might be visiting one of the Greek Islands or try mountain climbing.
She added: “So I do not feel good about the situation and have been praying that he will be all right.”
She said she contacted the hotel on Wednesday to look for Mr Kouk and was informed that he had not returned to the hotel since the day before. She also checked her husband’s telephone records with StarHub and found that the last call he made was a missed call to a friend also attending the medical conference.
(source: today online)