Hello everybody,I am requesting your assistance in locating a person, a Western Official, who worked/was in the Trengganu Province, Malaysia, in late September 1979 - October 1979.
For the last several decades (but more so in recent months), I have been trying to locate a person, who saved us on an unknown beach in the Trengganu, Malaysia, in 1979. I would like to have the opportunity to express my gratitude to this (Caucasian) man. I believe he'd saved mine and my boat mates' lives. This gentleman was in his 30s at the time. He's much older now and I don't know how his health condition is. It has been next to impossible for me to locate a person without knowing his name or exact nationality. The circumstances during which we met this person were chaotic. We never had the chance to get his name. Below is a description of our journey to Malaysia from Vietnam, and how we met this wonderful person.
In mid-September 1979, we left Vietnam south of Tra Vinh, where we hid for several days in the underground of a mud floor country home (where we were robbed by the locals - it might have been an inside job). From our hide out, we were transported to a 17 meters wooden boat (named CL026) by small dinghies from small creeks that went under multiple small wooden bridges guarded by the VCs, onto a river. It was a long and frightening ride as we could have been caught by the communists any time. We exited to the sea through Ba Dong outlet, where we were chased and shot at by the communist patrol boat.
After encountering numerous ocean liners and very rough seas, we received assistance from a big Indonesian naval ship in international water. They were very kind to us, and gave us food and water. We didn't know it, but by that time, no neighboring nations, including Indonesia, wanted to take additional refugees. We wanted to go to Singapore, but that ship had to abort assisting us (due to some unknown reason), and led our boat to the Malaysian water, where we ended up on a beautiful island that has a very small population of very nice people (I do not know the name of this island). The Malaysian navy came shortly afterward and towed our boat to the mouth of the Trengganu Bay.
The Malaysians then towed another boat full of refugees made up of people from that boat as well as some other refugees who had previously made land fall (some of the women who joined our boats mentioned they were violated by some of these naval personnel). The Malaysians made propaganda videos of them stocking our (2) boats, which were tied together and connected to one of its naval ships, with some water and food. They had taken our maps and compass, and left us with limited fuel. That navy ship then towed our 2 boats at breakneck speed back to Vietnamese water and cut us loose (our 2 boats almost sank during this towing). The sea was stormy when they cut us loose, which actually saved us, because the Malaysian literally left us near a Vietnamese Communist patrol boat, but because the sea was rough, this VC patrol boat headed toward land.
The next morning, the captains of the 2 boats (one of them is my brother, who served in the South Vietnamese Navy, and trained with the 7 Fleets in The Philippines) allowed families that were separated on those 2 boats during the confusions in Trengganu to chose which boat to get on. This turned out to be a fateful decision because the captains differed on which directions to proceed, and parted way. We also gave them additional fuel. This was the last time anyone saw that 2nd boat.
Some of the "refugees" on our boat, who have ties to the Communist regime, also wanted to go home, but the non-communist group (my brother's group) refused, because we knew what would happen to us if we returned. On our way back to a beach in Trengganu, we encountered a whirlpool. Without the map and compass, my brother used the moon and the stars to navigate, and we arrived the unknown beach, on either October 2nd or 3rd, 1979. This time we destroyed our boat, so that the Malaysian couldn't tow us back to sea again.
We were not greeted warmly by the locals and the Malaysians police and military personnel after we landed on that beach. We (mostly adults and men) were being roughed up by the Malaysians, and we were rounded up inside a makeshift fence that were guarded by the task force. We slept on the beach overnight.
Our hero who happened to be at the very same beach the next day intervened. This (Caucasian) gentleman saved us. He was able to arrange for us to be transported, first by a bus, and then by a ship named "The Black Gold" to a refugee camp in Pulau Bidong. This person had "clout". The Malaysians' behaviors changed completely after this gentleman arrived. I also want the readers to know that I don't hold ill feelings toward the Malaysians. It is not healthy to hold grudges, and they were kind enough to let us stay on their islands.
During those hectic and chaotic times at that beach, none of us was able to get this gentleman's name and contact information. I have no doubt that had he not intervened, the Malaysian government would have placed us on other refugee boats and towed us out to seas as they have done previously.
We arrived in Pulau Bidong on October 04, 1979. Our registered boat number was CL026 (CL stands for Cuu Long). Our boat number was 470. We stayed in Zone C (I think), near where the singers Le Thu and Ngoc Minh stayed. We stayed on the island for 10 months. We were transported to a small camp in the mainland in Trenganu, for 2 weeks, for additional paperwork and health screenings.
I have often thought about this gentleman. Because of the period of time, the way he acted, his knowledge and ability to obtain transport for us, some of us guessed he must have worked for a charity or a refugee organization, and that he could possibly be American, Australian, Canadian, German, and French... I have been told he could be an Australian Adviser, who was there in 1979 to advise the local Malaysian Police. I have reached out to the Australian High Commission, but they weren't able to help, and directed me to this blog.
There are many wonderful & selfless people/volunteers (including locals and Westerners), who participated in the rescues of boat people, both at sea and also at various beaches in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. They were were trying to help people like us, people who were helpless. Even if they were not the person who helped our boat, I just want them to know that I am grateful for what they did.
I have reached out to French photographer Vincent Leduc and Mr. Gary Ferguson, who participated on the Akuna rescue ship for suggestions. You can check Mr. Leduc's Facebook, which has hundreds of pictures he took while rescuing the refugees. Mr. Ferguson resides in Texas, and has donated his pictures archive to a local university. Colonel Jack Bailey, who captained the Akuna rescue ship, is deceased.
Mr. Leduc indicated that the person I'm looking for could be a French humanitarian activist, as he suggested the area was mainly cared for French activists in 1979. He stated the staff of the hospital ship “Ile de lumière” created and operated the medical facilities in the camps under the direction of the French doctors organization “Médecins du monde”. He said this gentleman looks like one of these activists, who would visit the local beaches and try to save more boat people.
Mr. Leduc also suggested that I contact an Australian boat people expert, Bernard Macdougall. While searching for Mr. MacDougall, I located Ms. Anna Bui's website (https://refugeecamps.net/VT268.html). In Anna's description of her journey, she also mentioned Mr. Leonard Hanssen (UNHCR), who tried to assist her boat mates while they were being held on land in Nenasi Village, Pehang, Malaysia
I hope that one day I will be able to locate the person who saved us on a beach in the Trengganu Province, Malaysia, on October 2-3, 1979. I would like to have the opportunity to express my gratitude to the person, who I believe saved mine and my boat mates' lives many years ago!
If you have information or suggestions, please contact me at troyreds@hotmail.com
Respectfully, T. Nguyen
Submited by T Nguyen
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