Ex-pat reporter’s consulate job
A FORMER News reporter has been given a top job at a Malaysian consulate.
Bernard Long has been appointed as the Honorary British Consular Agent for Kuching in Borneo, where he has lived for 13 years.
The 73-year-old, who shows no signs of putting his feet up and retiring, will be the first contact for any British citizens who have problems in Sarawak’s capital city in Malaysia.
Originally from Batley Carr, Mr Long reported for the News, and spent time writing for the Dewsbury Reporter before joining the British Ministry of Defence in 1963.
He was an assistant information officer in Sarawak and it was there he met his wife, Iris.
His career has seen him work for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the BBC World Service.
In 1979 he moved to Hong Kong, where he worked for Radio Television Hong Kong before transferring to the Hong Kong Government Information Service.
After retiring in 1999, he and Iris moved back to Sarawak where Mr Long formed a financial company with his sons Sean and Kieron.
He said: “I do sometimes think it odd that a lad from Batley Carr is sitting in an office almost on the Equator, looking down on the crocodile infested Sarawak River.
“I will always be grateful for my Yorkshire roots. They can take the lad out of Batley, but they can’t take Batley out of the lad.”
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Weather for Batley
Sunday 19 May 2013
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