Beautician lands in ugly luggage situation

KUALA LUMPUR: A favour of carrying a friend’s luggage at the airport had landed a Malaysian beautician a month-long stint in a Chinese lockup.

The bag appeared to contain a large amount of traditional Chinese medicine, which was compressed in pill form.

Despite drug-sniffing dogs discovering no signs of narcotics, Lisa Lim, 45, was still detained for further investigations.Her ordeal began when her friend and business supplier – a Datin – sought her help to carry a luggage as they arrived at the airport upon completing a group holiday in Kunming on Jan 7.“My friend said she had other baggage to look after, so I did not think much (of it) and agreed.

“At the security checkpoint, the personnel found a huge amount of traditional Chinese medicine in the luggage and detained me,” she said, adding she was left alone while her friends, including the bag’s owner, boarded the flight to return home.

Lim said she was first told that she would only be kept for three days.

However, she ended up spending 30 days in the lockup.

“I was unable to contact my family and friends until my release on Feb 7 and came back the following day.

“People thought I was involved in criminal activities,” Lim told a press conference arranged by MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong here yesterday.

When Lim confronted the luggage’s owner, she was brushed off while her friends, who had joined in the trip, told her to let go and just forget about what had happened, she claimed, adding that she was appalled by the Datin’s attitude.

Chong said the incident had damaged Lim’s reputation and caused great stress to her and her family.

“She is lucky that she was released and that there had been no narcotics found.

“She does not blame the Chinese authorities because they were merely doing their job. But it is greatly irresponsible of the luggage owner, who does not care or bother about what had happened to Lim,” he said.He warned all travellers to not hold any belongings of others, even for a friend.

Department legal adviser James Ee said Chinese law allows the authorities to hold a suspected person in custody for around 37 days.

“They also have the right to prevent a detainee from using a phone if they feel it would jeopardise their investigations,” he said.

Ee said Lim has been advised of her legal options and that a suit against the Datin is being considered.“Lim told us she needs more time to think through (the matter),” he added.