July 17, 2006
Mistaken Identity leads to SMS death announcement of Malaysian President
A false rumor of the death of Dato' Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, Malaysian national president of Parti Gerakan Rakyat , circulated by text messaging, following a media release, reports the Malaysian National News Agency.
"I am still very much alive, thank you," said Dr Lim, explaining that upon checking, he found out that there had been a mistaken identity between him and Tan Sri Lim Yoke Cheng who died at the Pantai Medical Centre here yesterday evening.
"They had mistaken me with Tan Sri Lim Yoke Cheng. Maybe since in Chinese, both our names are almost similar. I guess because of that somebody wrongly sent out the message," said Dr Lim.
The SMS had been sent out by mistake by a media organisation, translating the name of the late Lim Yoke Cheng from Mandarin into English as Lim Keng Yaik."
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