PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) -- Tributes have
poured in for the late Australian ambassador and Cambodian government
advisor John Holloway who died Tuesday after a long battle with skin
cancer and diabetes.
"John Holloway was an outstanding diplomat," former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans told The Cambodian Herald, describing his death as "very sad news."
Professor Evans, now chancellor of the Australian National University, said Holloway had "a deep and abiding affection for the Cambodian people, which he made very clear in all his advice to me and the Australian government."
Evans was foreign minister when Holloway first came to Cambodia in 1991 as one of the first Western diplomats to present his credentials to the then Prince Norodom Sihanouk, head of the Supreme National Council set up after the Paris Peace Agreements.
Ministry of Economy and Finance Secretary of State Hang Chuon Naron, who once worked at the Australian Mission, said he was "saddened" by the news of the former ambassador's death.
"He will be missed by us and many of his former colleagues," he said.
"John Holloway was an outstanding diplomat," former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans told The Cambodian Herald, describing his death as "very sad news."
Professor Evans, now chancellor of the Australian National University, said Holloway had "a deep and abiding affection for the Cambodian people, which he made very clear in all his advice to me and the Australian government."
Evans was foreign minister when Holloway first came to Cambodia in 1991 as one of the first Western diplomats to present his credentials to the then Prince Norodom Sihanouk, head of the Supreme National Council set up after the Paris Peace Agreements.
Ministry of Economy and Finance Secretary of State Hang Chuon Naron, who once worked at the Australian Mission, said he was "saddened" by the news of the former ambassador's death.
"He will be missed by us and many of his former colleagues," he said.
Hang Chuon Naron recalled that Holloway "cared very much about staff safety, as travelling to the provinces was very risky ... the remnants of Khmer Rouge fighters were roaming around the country."
Holloway "made sure that all the arrangements were made to make us safe," the secretary of state said.
Helen Jarvis, advisor to the Royal Government of Cambodia, said Holloway was "a strong and determined man who faced many difficulties with dignity and resolve.
"In Jakarta in the 1960s and in Cambodia in the 1990s and until today, I knew him as someone who gave his best for what he saw as right," she said. "He was an Australian who felt at home in Asia, and was a friend to Cambodia."
Margaret Bywater, an Australian advisor at the Hun Sen Library at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said Holloway was "a good friend over many years both in Australia and Cambodia."
"I especially appreciated his dedicated work behind the scenes in bringing about the Cambodian peace process," said Bywater, who has been living in Cambodia since 1986.
Before he died, the former ambassador made clear that he wished to be cremated according to Cambodian tradition.
"I think I am dying," he said in an audio recording made on February 16, adding that he did not wish to be taken to hospital but preferred to stay at the house of a Cambodian friend in Dangkao district in Phnom Penh.
"I want to be very sure that my remains are handled according to the Cambodian faith and am happy for the Cambodian faith to organise the religious farewell for me.
"So thank you very much and goodbye."
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