Australia deports one of Chang's killers

Seated between security officers and immigration officials on a Malaysia Airlines
flight, one of two men convicted of killing world-renowned heart surgeon Victor
Chang has been deported from Australia.
As Phillip Choon Tee Lim occupied his taxpayer-funded economy class seat on Tuesday
bound for his homeland never to return, the NSW opposition blamed state government
incompetence for enabling the 50-year-old to "flee".
Lim and co-offender Chew Seng (Ah Sung) Liew were sentenced to maximum terms of 24
years and 26 years, respectively, for the July 4, 1991, shooting death of Dr Chang
at Mosman in a failed extortion attempt.
Lim's minimum sentence expired in November 2009, after which the NSW government made
a submission to keep him in jail, arguing that if released he would be deported and
not subject to any parole conditions.
Following months of legal bickering over his eligibility for parole, a NSW Supreme
Court mention on Monday resulted in Lim's release from a Sydney prison into the
custody of immigration department officials.
He spent Monday night at Villawood Detention Centre.
Immigration Department NSW director Gavin McCairns said Lim left Australia
"voluntarily" aboard a flight to Kuala Lumpur which was to depart Sydney late on
Tuesday afternoon.
"Mr Lim's permanent visa will cease on departure and he will then be subject to
permanent exclusion from Australia," Mr McCairns told reporters in Sydney on
Tuesday.
"The department does not anticipate any problems as Mr Lim is returning voluntarily.
"He has consistently advised departmental officials that he does not oppose the
deportation and that he wants to be returned to Malaysia upon release from prison."
Opposition justice spokesman Greg Smith said the NSW government had failed in its
duty by allowing Lim's release, resulting in a "cruel torment" for Dr Chang's
family.
"The state Labor government stuffed this matter up from the beginning. Its
incompetence has allowed this individual to flee," Mr Smith said in a statement.
On Monday, NSW Corrective Services Minister Phil Costa said the state had put a
"strong case" against Lim's release.
Once escorted off the flight at Kuala Lumpur, Lim will become an "unaccompanied
Malaysian citizen", immigration said.
"I think the Australian public would be very interested that the department have
acted quickly, expeditiously, to remove a person who, quite frankly, shouldn't be in
Australia after committing such a crime," Mr McCairns said.
Asked about the excessiveness of four escorts accompanying Lim on the flight, Mr
McCairns said it was "standard procedure".
Lim is understood to have family in Malaysia.
It's not known whether they will meet him on his arrival in Kuala Lumpur.
The murder of Dr Chang in the exclusive north shore Sydney suburb of Mosman shocked
the nation.
The surgeon, who pioneered heart transplant methods, was gunned down in his home
suburb on his way to work.
Liew's 20-year minimum sentence means he is not eligible for release on parole until
2011.