Where are you, daddy?

New Straits Times

It has been more than two months since 83-year-old Tan Sue Yong, who is suffering from senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, wandered off from home. Where could he be? His family is appealing to the public for help, reports ISA ISMAIL.

FIND HIM... Tan has been missing since May 23.FATHER’S Day this year has come and gone for lawyer Roger Tan without much celebration. He and his family have been spending days and weeks going to various non-governmental organisations, religious institutions and newspapers to seek help. His father is missing. This is not the first time but 83-year-old Tan Sue Yong has never gone missing for more than two months before. Every time the older Tan goes wandering off, someone would pick him up and send his home.

“He would wander off in jungle every day,” says Roger, of his father. “I suppose he thinks it’s his rubber plantation.” When Tan did not come home on May 23, the Yong Peng Police Field Force was mobilised to comb the surrounding jungle. They searched until early next morning but still did not find him.

The older Tan suffers from senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. He was last sighted on an express bus in Yong Peng on the evening of June 13. Having learnt to use public transport, Tan is most probably on the move, wandering from town to town.

Notwithstanding dementia, Tan is a healthy and hearty old chap. Once, Tan rode his 20-year-old motorbike to Malacca from his home in Yong Peng. He was brought home by a member of the public who had found him wandering around town.

Since then, Tan has been deprived of his trusty old motorbike and confined to home. But even a locked gate could not keep this restless senior citizen from going out as he would use a ladder to climb over it. When they took away the ladder, Tan would rattle the gates until someone lets him out.

“There are two possibilities,” says Roger of his father’s present state. “He may have collapsed somewhere in which case he would eventually be found due to the decomposition of his body.”

Roger’s other suggestion is more optimistic: “He may be kept by somebody who is ignorant about the publicity and the efforts of his family to look for him.”

“He may be in a hospital or an old folks’ home. So we are asking the relevant authorities to double check their homes and hospitals to see if my father is there.”

Tan’s family had previously put him under medication to keep him calm but eventually decided to let him be. Medication had caused him to develop hallucinations and made him unable to look after himself.

Tan had toiled selflessly until he was 70. At 60, he would often dye his hair so his employers would not dismiss him for being too old to work.

“He had worked hard in his younger days to bring us up,” recounts Roger.

“Due to poverty, six of his children died shortly after birth.”

Tan had worked as a labourer for RM7 a day. After 1960, he took up contracts to clear jungles for plantations.

“Everytime he left for work, we would miss him. We would also worry for his safety as he had often told us about the many close encounters he had had.”

“Once, when I had done badly in my exams, I went to tell my father, who was working in the estate. He did not scold me but as he turned his head to carry on with his work, I saw tears rolling down his cheeks,” said Roger.

Roger obviously studied harder as he eventually went to England to read law.

“His last words before I left for England were, ‘You better study hard because your father is already old’. My father sold an entire plantation to support my studies in Britain.”

Today, Roger is still going around asking the public to help look for his elderly father.

“I appeal to the public to send him to the nearest police station when he is found. It’s no good telling us where he has been sighted because he won’t stay at any place for long.”

Please contact the Yong Peng police station at 07-4671222 if you find Tan Sue Yong or if you have seen him recently. Those interested may know more about the search at this web site: www.rtkm.com.my/dad.

Son's search for missing father continues

New Straits Times

JOHOR BARU, Sun. - Although exhausted and in despair, lawyer Roger Tan remains optimistic that he will find his father who has been missing from home since May.

And MCA vice-chairman Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, touched by the love of this filial son, has agreed to render assistance to find the 83-year-old Tan Sue Yong.

Ong, who met Roger Tan in Kuala Lumpur last Thursday, has called on all MCA branches to be on the lookout for Sue Yong.

Roger Tan said 15,000 colour posters of his father would be distributed to MCA branches through the party's State secretariat.

"I appeal to those who see my father to bring him directly to the nearest police station," he said.

Sue Yong, who is suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease, went for a walk on May 23 and has not returned to his Yong Peng home since. He was last seen wearing a short-sleeved greyish white shirt and a brown pair of trousers.

He was reported to have been spotted by an express bus driver in Larkin on June 13. Prior to that, he was said to have been spotted in Lucky Garden in Yong Peng, and in Taman Melor and Taman Johor in Johor Baru.

Roger Tan has again appealed to people to stop making crank calls.

Those with information on Sue Yong can contact the Yong Peng police station at tel: 07-4671222, or the nearest police station.

Tan's website is at www.rtkm.com.my/dad.

Family still searching for missing patriarch

The Star
By Mazwin Nik Anis

JOHOR BARU: Posters bearing his photograph are on almost every available wall but Tan’s family members have not received any news on their patriarch’s whereabouts since he left home exactly two months ago today.

Tan Sue Yong, 87, has been missing since May 23 and his family members have searched extensively for him, including putting up missing persons advertisements in all the English, Malay and Chinese dailies but to no avail.

Tan’s son, Roger, said the family members were at their wits end but have not given up hope.

“We have also put up posters in public places, obtained assistance from the police, Rela, Rukun Tetangga and every other association that we can think of, but still, my father has not been found.

“My family, especially my 76-year-old mother is extremely worried about his well-being,” he said.

Roger said his mother had refused to leave home fearing her husband would return and find the house empty, and no amount of persuasion could help change her mind.

On May 23, Tan, who suffers from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease left his home in Lorong Enam, Yong Peng for his daily walk in the afternoon but failed to return.

This is the second time Tan had gone missing.

In 1998, he took off on his old motorcycle and was found two days later in Malacca.

Tan was wearing a straw hat, a short-sleeved white shirt with stripes and a pair of brown long pants when he left home on May 23.

He was also carrying his identification papers.

Roger said the last information that they had received was that Tan was spotted boarding an express bus from Yong Peng to Johor Baru on June 13.

He said the family had also received other leads but all had ended in wild goose chases.

Missing dad on Father’s Day

The Sunday Star

IN HAPPIER TIMES... Tan's children organised a grand birthday dinner bash for him on his 80th birthday.

It has been almost a month since Roger Tan's father went missing. On this Father's Day, the family is appealing to the public to help their father find his way home, writes IVY SOON.

It was not the first time that Roger Tan had received a call telling him that his elderly father was missing. However, over the last two years, residents in Yong Peng, Johor had always brought his father home safely.

“Almost everyone in Yong Peng has brought my father home at one time or another,” says Roger. “Last month, however, no one stopped to offer him a ride home.”

Since May 23, the family has been looking tirelessly for his father, Tan Sue Yong, 83, who has Alzheimer’s disease and suffers from dementia.

On the night that Tan went missing, Roger’s family and friends, as well as Rela members, combed the jungle around Yong Peng in vain until four in the morning.

“My father used to work in the jungle, clearing it on contract basis. He is familiar with the jungle, and regards it as a second home. He usually likes to wander into the jungle because he feels at home there,” says the 38-year-old lawyer.

Tan was spotted at the pasar malam and a supermarket in town. A salesgirl told Roger’s family later that she helped to test a clock for a white-haired, elderly man.

It was not the first time that Tan had failed to come home. He went missing for several days two years ago.

Have you seen him?

TAN has white hair, is five feet four inches, and was wearing a short sleeved grey shirt and brown pants when he left home. He can only speak Hockchew.

If you see Tan, please take him to the nearest police station. Call the Yong Peng police station at 07-4671222 or the head of rescue operations at 019-7651289.

For the latest update on the searc for tan, go to the website www.rtkm.com.my/dad.

“That time, he was out riding his motorbike. A good samaritan found him wandering about in Malacca and took him home. Until today, we have no idea how he managed to ride all the way from Yong Peng to Malacca on his 20-year-old motorbike,” recalls Roger. It usually takes about an hour by car from Yong Peng to Malacca.

Since that incident, Roger and his family had removed the motorcycle. They also began to take steps to cope with Tan’s deteriorating memory after doctors verified that he has Alzheimer’s disease and suffers from dementia.

“We were told that we had two options; to put him under medication or keep him as comfortable as possible in a familiar surrounding. We tried putting him on medication but it made him drowsy and robbed him of his ability to care for himself. Other side effects included hallucinations.

“So, we opted instead to let him remain in Yong Peng where he lives with my mother and a maid. We tried bringing him to live with the children, but he gets agitated. He always insisted on going home to Yong Peng,” says Roger, who also points out that they had to respect their father’s views.

Dementia aside, Tan is otherwise hale and hearty. He has trouble remembering the present, but his memory of past events is vivid. Last Easter, says Roger, he was able to recite a poem that a priest had taught him over 70 years ago in his church in China.

At other times, he cannot even recognise his six children and 15 grandchildren although they take turns to visit Tan and his wife every week.

Confining Tan in the house was never an option, says Roger, because his father likes to keep active. Tan’s life has been one of hard toil and sweat.

“He worked hard to raise us; clearing the jungle was hard work. Even when we were very poor, we knew that our father was determined to give us the best education he could afford. His one regret was that he did not further his studies.”

Tan who came from China in 1947, was a dutiful father and was determined to bring his children up well. When Roger was naughty, Tan would beat him in front of his other siblings. But later at night, he would ask Roger where it hurt and apply balm to his wounds.

“He only retired at 70. Even after that, he continued to work in his rubber estate. We told him that he should take it easy in his golden years; to go to the coffee shop and chat with his friends,” Roger recounts.

Tan was, however, not inclined to remain idle. He would go for walks twice or three times a day. Sometimes, he would ramble in the jungle, perhaps because it reminded him of working in his rubber plantation.

After the Malacca episode, Tan’s children tried to prevent him from wandering out on his own. They locked the gate, but Tan used a ladder to climb out. They took away the ladder, but Tan shook the gates and threw a tantrum.

Fiercely independent, he would not even allow the maid to accompany him.

Once, Roger’s sister-in-law warned Tan that he would get lost again. He just shrugged and said he could find his way home with his eyes closed, and if he could not, “it’s fated.”

Since their father’s disappearance was publicised in the newspapers, Roger Tan’s family has received many telephone calls. Some of the callers have provided crucial information on his father’s movements since his disappearance.

The day after he went missing, Tan was reportedly spotted at a poultry farm in Jalan Labis. They searched in that area until one in the morning, but their efforts proved futile.

Two days later, a neighbour saw Tan wandering about in a deserted housing estate. He was next seen getting off a lorry at a palm oil estate about 12km from Yong Peng. A guard saw him walking into the estate.

Again, Roger’s family and field force members with tracker dogs went in to search for Tan. Again, their efforts came to naught.

“My father was last see boarding a bus from Johor Baru to Air Itam on May 27. He has no money with him, and left home only with his identity card.

“He could be travelling from town to town. He might not even realise that he is lost. He might be thinking that he is back in his younger days in China, happily travelling from one town to another,” says Roger with a rueful laugh.

The police, hospitals, RELA, MCA members, Council of Churches, the Boys and Girls brigade, have all been alerted about Tan’s disappearance. Yong Peng residents are also on the lookout for him.

“Many have come forward to help us. We thank all of them, especially Datuk Ong Ka Ting, Datuk Chua Jui Meng, Johor chief police officer Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor and Perak chief police officer Datuk Mariman Mohd Taib,” says Roger.

Others have been more unscrupulous, preying on Roger’s family’s anxiety and fears. One caller insisted that their father had been murdered, his arms and legs amputated, and stowed away in a coffeeshop somewhere.

“We did not believe that caller because we were sure that such a find would not go unnoticed. The police would have notified us,” says Roger, who has led the tireless search for his father.

Roger’s family has also been besieged by crank calls, some offering tip-offs they could not afford to ignore. Hence, in their desperation and vulnerability, the family has been led on a wild goose chase. One led them to Ipoh, and another to searching through a cemetery after midnight.

Roger stresses that his family is not rich; “We are an average family like most,” he says.

Despite such unpleasant incidents, the family has faith in the public’s goodwill and kindness.

With well-wishers’ help, Roger’s family pooled their resources to place full-page advertisements in major newspapers yesterday to appeal to the public to help bring Tan home for Father’s Day.

“He is our father, and we love him. We have to keep looking for him no matter what.”

Roger believes his father is most probably lost in cities or towns. “He could have wandered into the jungle, but by now someone would have found him because there are workers going in everyday.”

“We think that our father is lost in towns and cities where people are too busy to bother with an old man. On Father’s Day, we are appealing to everyone to please help look out for him. He can only speak Hockchew.”

“If you see a bewildered old man alone, please do not dismiss him as insane. He could be suffering from dementia, and cannot remember who he is and where he is from. Please approach him and help him,” appeals Roger.