mom stabbed over RM10

KUALA TERENGGANU: A businesswoman was seriously hurt after her stepson stabbed her in the back following a quarrel over RM10.

It is learnt that the 52-year-old victim had handed over the money after the man, a suspected drug addict, demanded for cash at about 5pm.

However, the 34-year-old man was believed to have been dissatisfied with the amount. He returned about 30 minutes later and stabbed the victim with a knife at their home in Kampung Durian Burung here yesterday.

It is understood that the woman, who operates an eatery here, has been taking care of the stepson since he was a teenager and often gave in to his demands for money.

However, during the incident, she had refused his demand for RM50 and only gave him RM10.

Neighbours said the stepson would only come around to the house whenever he wanted money.

thalassaemia boy need money for operation

JOHOR BARU: Seven-year-old Low Yong Hau hopes to one day play with his classmates and take part in sports activities in his school.

Such activities are now beyond him. He suffers from Thalassaemia Major.

“I cannot join my friends in physical education classes because I have this disease.

“Taking part in physical activities make me feel tired and then I will fall sick,” he said.

Yong Hau’s father Low Sze Keong, 43, is hoping that generous Malaysians will be able to help his son lead a normal life.

Sze Keong, who works as a car painter, said he needed to raise RM100,000 to send his son for an operation in Singapore.

“It is a torture to see him suffer every month when he goes for his blood transfusion. The procedure is painful and he will cry.

“Many times I have to lie to persuade him to go to Kluang General Hospital for treatment,” he told a press conference organised by Johor MCA Public Com­plaints Bureau chief Chia Song Cheng on June 16.

He said the family had tried to have the operation done locally but was told by the doctor that his son has a very rare blood type and that finding a suitable donor might be difficult.

“My son needs to go for a bone marrow operation in Singapore which will cost RM500,000. So far, we have managed to raise RM400,000 and are still short of RM100,000.

“I am appealing to the people to help me because my son needs to undergo the operations by the end of July,” he said, adding that the hospital in Singapore had managed to find a suitable donor for Yong How.

Chia said he had been informed that if Yong How is not operated on soon, he would suffer further health complications.

two caught for drug trafficking

GEORGE TOWN: Two men have been ordered by a High Court here to be hanged for trafficking in more than 1.7kg of drugs.

Judicial Commissioner Yaacob Md Sam pronounced the death sentence on odd-job labourer Ooi Chee Seong, 33, and trader Yong Soon Lee, 36, yesterday after finding them guilty on three counts of trafficking.

He found that the prosecution had proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the two accused had committed the offences at E Park Condominium in Jalan Batu Uban, at 4.45pm on Oct 7, 2003.

Ooi and Yong were jointly charged with trafficking in 691.8gm of a mixture of drugs (consisting of 395.8gm of heroin and 296gm of monoacetylmorphines), 972.3gm of ketamine and 52.8gm of methamphetamine.

In his judgment, which took two-and-a-half hours to deliver, Yaacob found that both men had possession and knowledge of the drugs, which were recovered in a separate room from where they were arrested.

He said it was not disputed that some of the drugs recovered was still warm and some hot when the police raided the condominium.

female smokers getting younger

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is seeing an increase of female smokers with those lighting up for the first time getting younger.

“Schoolgirls who pick up a cigarette for the very first time are often driven by peer pressure, and it is vital that we reach out to them to offer our support and expertise to help them kick the habit,” said Respiratory Medical Institute Head Datin Dr Aziah Ahmad Mahayiddin at the World No Tobacco Day 2010 celebration held at the institute here recently.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), women make up about 20% of the world’s estimated 1 billion smokers.

That is about 200 million women and counting, as the epidemic of tobacco use among women is increasing in some countries.

In Malaysia, the 2006 National Health Morbidity Survey (NHMS) showed that adolescent girls between ages 13 and 18 tend to start smoking at the average age of 14.1 years, only a slight difference to boys who start lighting up at 13.6 years

WHO statistic reveals a more somber picture. Across the world, some 600,000 deaths a year are caused by exposure to second-hand smoke with 64% of the deaths being women.

winter sonata actor killed himself

SEOUL, South Korea (AP): A popular South Korean actor and singer was found dead Wednesday in an apparent suicide that would be the latest in a recent string of high-profile suicides in the Asian country, police and a news report said.

Park Yong-ha, 33, apparently hanged himself in his home in Seoul, Yonhap news agency reported, citing police.

An official with Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency told The Associated Press that Park was found hanging by the electric cord of his mobile phone battery charger. However, police were still trying to determine the exact cause of death, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

Park debuted in the late 1990s and starred in the 2002 television drama "Winter Sonata," which drummed up a following in Japan and Southeast Asia. He held several concerts in Japan and one of his fans was said to be its former first lady Akie Abe.

Yonhap reported no suicide note was found, but the Seoul police agency said Park told his family "I'm sorry. I'm sorry" while massaging his father, who is terminally ill with stomach cancer, early Wednesday.

women takes revenge!

A WOMAN pasted 15 offensive posters of her late former husband and his current wife, China Press reported.

The posters were pasted at the couple’s flat to embarrass the family, said the 55-year-old woman.

On the poster, the woman, who divorced the man 15 years ago, said she was “glad” that justice had been served. She also cursed her former husband’s wife for the posters, some of which carried his obituary.

The woman, a janitor, kicked her son out of the house when she found out that he went to the funeral.

“I am very angry. I asked him not to come back,” said the woman, who changed the locks in the house

boat tragedy

PORT DICKSON: Rescuers have found the bodies of the last five victims of Tuesday’s fishing boat tragedy.

They were the bodies of four women and a girl estimated to be between eight and 10 years old. They were found floating 15 nautical miles from here near Tanjung Sepat in Selangor.

“The bodies were bloated beyond recognition but we believe they were the passengers of the ill-fated boat,” OCPD Supt Baljeet Singh said when met here.

The boat, which left Banting in Selangor early Tuesday morning for Dumai, Indonesia capsized three hours later about 12 nautical miles from here due to bad weather.

It was transporting passengers believed to be illegal immigrants and two crew members.

Eight people, including the tekong and his assistant, survived the tragedy. A total of 14 people have died.

Baljeet said the Indonesian Embassy had been notified of the discovery of the last five bodies.

Police obtained a seven-day remand against the tekong and his assistant on Wednesday. They are being investigated under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code for negligence in the deaths of their passengers.