CHANG SWEE CHAUN has been missing since 1991. CHANG SWEE CHAUN, (Date of Birth 02/02/1968) is a Malaysian student who was studying at the University of Ulster at Coleraine and resided at an address in Portstewart.
Last Seen
He went missing after attending a disco at the Londonderry Hotel, Portrush, on the evening of 15 March 1991. He was last seen on 16 March 1991, in Main Street, Portrush.
Since his disappearance police have conducted extensive enquiries and issued media appeals however to date the whereabouts of CHANG SWEE CHAUN, is unknown.
Anyone who may have any information relating to the disappearance or whereabouts of CHANG SWEE CHAUN contact Detectives on 101 Non Emergency Number or alternatively provide information to an independent charity Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111
Hi HayLouise, I studied at the University of Ulster with Chang Swee Chaun (and I think it should actually probably be Ch
uan and not Chaun, but that would need to be confirmed. I'm now 56 years old and we shared a student house together in Coleraine, in I think it was 1989/90. He had a car and since most of us didn't, he often gave us lifts to the discos in Portstewart and Portrush. I think he said that his family were from Ipoh in Malaysia. He was a nice guy, but I can't remember what he studied. He was a year below me, so when he vanished in 1991, I was already in London and only found out a few years later from a friend who shared the same student accommodation in Coleraine, that he had disappeared. I rang the PSNI (at the time called the RUC) in 1998 to give them information about what might have happened to him. Basically I told them that when we shared a house in Coleraine, Swee used to go out clubbing with a number of his friends, most of whom were from Hong Kong. One night they went to Dublin to a club there and while they were busy dancing and drinking, Chinese Triads started to talk to them to see if they were interested in joining. Chang Swee and a number of the Hong Kong students he hung around with told us this story when they returned from Dublin. Some of them said that they had felt scared. When I told the police officer about this conversation, which possibly took place in 1989/90, about a year before he disappeared, the officer said that when they were initially looking for him, they found Chang Swee's car and that in it they found a sophisticated money counterfeiting machine. Now that says a lot and in my mind solidifies my theory about the Triad angle. Which normal student or even low grade criminal would have a money counterfeiting machine in their car? My friend said that following Chang Swee's disappearance, his sister came to Northern Ireland several times looking for him. My thinking is that either:
1. He joined or was pressured to join the Triads and disappeared to another country to continue working for them, as N Ireland is pretty small to hide an Asian looking person, who is being sought after by the authorities.
2. He ran afoul of the Triads or even the Irish paramilitaries like the UDA or IRA and has been murdered. If you look online, there are allegedly links between the UDA for instance and Chinese Triads in the drugs trade.
3. He ran away from Northern Ireland to get away from the Triads and is living somewhere under a different identity.
I doubt that he would have gone back to Ipoh in Malaysia as that place is also a known hotbed for triad activity. However, if he has, then perhaps his family will no longer be looking for him and will remain quiet to protect him.
I don't know if the police ever interviewed the students from Hong Kong who hung around with him. It would be interesting to know what happened to them. He probably wasn't the only one recruited.
It is a well known fact that Triads like to recruit in high schools, clubs and potentially universities. Why would he join? The only reason I can think of is that he might have thought it would help finance his studies since it was not cheap for an overseas student to study abroad. Perhaps he thought that he was doing his parents a favour. I can't think of any other reason, other than coercion of some sort. Anyway, hope this might open discussion on Chang Swee's disappearance and help in some way.
Oh and by the way, unfortunately there are no photos of him as during that time, there were no mobile phones to take photos! I had a video camera with a cassette, but never used that to film my friends. Not sure what I filmed, as that has all gone (no data centres to keep stuff because the internet wasn't a thing yet). It was all a long time ago.
