> Chopped-up remains of girl found in man’s fridge

Migrant worker had once said human flesh was delicious

07 January 2009

A MAN who once told neighbours that ‘human meat was delicious’ has been arrested in Guangzhou, China, after the dismembered part of a girl were found in his fridge.

The migrant worker, known as A He, is believed to be mentally ill.

He was detained after blood was discovered outside his flat in Guangzhou city late on Friday afternoon.

Detectives found seven or eight parts of a girl believed to be 4-year-old Li Lingli, reported The Hong Kong Standard.

The girl, whose parents are migrant workers from Hunan, disappeared on Friday morning while four of her family members were working or busy, the Guangzhou Daily reported.

The report said Lingli’s grandparents began the search for the missing girl that day.

The police arrived at noon and searched all 50 rental flats in the neighbourhood, but found nothing.

Fresh blood

In the late afternoon, Lingli’s grandmother saw fresh blood outside a flat belonging to Ah He, reported The South China Morning Post.

Inside the flat, she saw a bottle of dark red liquid, believed to be blood.

This convinced her that the man had something to do with her missing granddaughter.

The police agreed to search the room again and found a child’s dismembered body in the fridge.

A He, said to be in his 30s or 40s, was described as a recluse who sometimes wore women’s dresses and even underwear in public, the Guangzhou Daily reported, citing neighbours.

It is believed he worked in a garment factory.

He reportedly moved to the area about two months ago and rarely spoke to other residents, but neighbours said he would sometimes talk to himself when he became excited while watching the communal television.

He particularly enjoyed war films, said reports.

An unnamed neighbour was quoted as saying: ‘(A He) said that human meat was in fact delicious.’

A He allegedly made the comment while watching a film showing people being killed in battle.

The police refused to give more details.

> 4 charged over fatal attack

FOUR young men were charged in court on Friday with the murder of a teen at a carpark last Saturday.

Liu Wing Sing, a Hongkonger, Joshua Leong Wei Jun, Kan Zhan Peng, all 19, and Lee Chang Feng, 21, are alleged to have caused the death of Mr Siah Wui Xiang, 18, at the carpark of People’s Park Centre, Havelock Square, at about 1.20am last Saturday.

They were arrested at their homes on Thursday morning, four days after Mr Siah and three friends were attacked on their way home.

Mr Siah was taken to hospital where he underwent surgery. He died on Wednesday.

He was a student of digital media at Institute of Technical Education (Bedok) and had been waiting for his examination results.

All four were remanded at Central police division.

They will be back on Friday.

If convicted, they face the mandatory death penalty.

Update 19012009:
Next hearing will be on the 6th Feb 2009.
No bail allowed.

> Teenager beaten so badly he dies

Attackers with beer bottles and metal rods also robbed his friend
By Chong Shin Yen
January 09, 2009

THE senseless, unprovoked attack amid the Chinese New Year decorations in Chinatown has left one young man dead and his family heartbroken.

The attack happened at about 1.20am on 3 Jan.

Marcus Siah Wui Xiang, was beaten so badly that he slipped into a coma.

The 19-year-old, who had just completed his ITE studies, did not regain consciousness. He died at 6am yesterday at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

Two of his friends, Noel Ng Jin Kai and Ou Wen Han, both 19, suffered cuts and bruises and were given outpatient treatment.

A third friend, Goh Kin Seng, 15, managed to escape unhurt.

Noel, a student, told The New Paper that he and his childhood buddies had gone to Chinatown last Friday night to enjoy the Chinese New Year atmosphere.

They had supper at around 11pm and about two hours later, they headed towards a bus stop near the Furama City Centre.

Shouts from strangers

Noel said: ‘It was then that we heard someone shouting at us, ‘Oi, kua si mi?’ (Hokkien for what are you looking at).

‘We looked up and saw a group of six men running down the overhead bridge towards us.’

Before the four friends could react, they were attacked by the group, who were wielding metal rods and beer bottles.

‘I was kicked and fell into a drain,’ Noel recalled.

One of the attackers then grabbed Wen Han’s branded bag, worth about $200, but the latter held on to it.

According to Noel, Wen Han let go of his bag only when his attacker broke a beer bottle and threatened to stab him with it.

The third friend, Kin Seng, ran away and managed to escape unhurt.

Noel said the assailants then left him and Wen Han alone and fled.

But the duo saw two others chasing after Marcus with a metal rod. The two friends lost sight of the men shortly after.

Noel said that they did not know the assailants but he recalled seeing them in Chinatown earlier.

‘After they left us, we went searching for Marcus around the vicinity,’ he said.

‘We finally found him sitting on the ground at the open space carpark in front of the Subordinate Courts.’

Conscious at first

Marcus was conscious, but he was in a daze and in pain. His belongings were intact.

‘He was not bleeding and we carried him to the stairs so that he could sit down,’ said Noel.

‘He started vomiting and was incoherent. We couldn’t make out what he was saying.’

They then called for an ambulance and all four were taken to SGH.

Marcus suffered blood clots in his brain and injuries to his left leg and chin.

His sister, Miss Melissa Siah, 21, said that he slipped into a coma after a four-hour brain operation.

Said Miss Siah, who is unemployed: ‘My parents and I were by his bedside every day talking to him, telling him to wake up soon. But he had no reaction at all.’

Marcus, whose parents are divorced, was the only son.

He lived in a three-room flat with his mother, Madam Chai Choi Meng, and his sister.

Madam Chai was in China holidaying when she learnt that her son was injured.

She wanted to return to Singapore immediately, but could not get on an earlier flight. She returned on 4 Jan as scheduled.

Miss Siah said that the night before her brother died, doctors had told the family that he was recovering well.

‘My parents, especially my mother, were so relieved and happy.

‘She left the hospital at about 9pm that night and was smiling,’ she said.

‘That was the first time she smiled since my brother was warded.

Turn for the worse

But the next day at 4am, Miss Siah received a call from SGH telling them to rush down.

She was told that her brother’s temperature had dropped suddenly and they had to be prepared for the worst.

Madam Chai, a clerk, 48, broke down and was inconsolable when he was pronounced dead.

She had to be helped onto a wheelchair.

Miss Siah said: ‘She cried: ‘How could he leave me just like that’?’

Marcus’ friends, who were with him when they were attacked, were also by his bedside when he died.

They were later asked to go to the police station to give their statements.

A police spokesman said that no arrests have been made and they are investigating. The case has been classified as unnatural death, pending post-mortem results.

Miss Siah described her brother as quiet, timid and good-natured.

She said: ‘He was the kind who would avoid getting into trouble and was never a cause of worry for our parents.’

Marcus, who had studied digital media, planned to take up computer graphics.

He was waiting for his results and was about to serve his national service.

He will be cremated today.

> Lesbian stalking missus

KUALA LUMPUR: A lesbian is stalking her former schoolmate and has even accused the woman’s husband of being the “third party” in their “relationship”.

The 33-year-old woman, known only as Ong, also threatened to use black magic to win the love of the classmate, identified as Chong.

Ong and Chong were classmates in Penang when they were 13.

Chong, now the mother of a month-old baby, said Ong liked to dress like a man and used to follow her back home after school.

“My friends used to tell me that Ong was interested in me,” Chong said at a press conference at the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department.

Her ordeal started in August.

“There was no contact between us when I moved to Kuala Lumpur. But in August this year, she found me through a private investigator and visited my shop to profess her love to me,” said Chong, an assistant florist at her husband’s shop.

In one of their encounters, Chong rejected her love. Ong shouted back “Awak bini saya!” (You are my wife) and refused to leave when the security guard asked her to do so.

Ong also used several telephone numbers to call Chong, sometimes up to 10 times a day.

She later met Chong’s husband Phuah, 37, and asked him to stay away as he was not her “true husband”.

She pasted flyers around the shop and sent letters to his neighbours to say that Chong was her wife and she would wait forever for her.

In a recent SMS, Ong told Chong that she would go to Thailand to seek a witch doctor’s help to win back her love. Phuah lodged a report at the Dang Wangi police station on Oct 20.

“I appeal to Ong’s parents to stop her from harassing me because I am already married,” Chong said.

Department head Datuk Michael Chong said it had four cases related to lesbianism of which three involved school students.

> We are re-examining every pack of Xia Ku Cao herbs, says Eu Yan Sang

On Dec 25, STOMPer Roy wrote in STOMP after finding a cigarette butt, marked with Chinese characters that show it’s Chinese origin, in a bag of ‘Xia Ku Cao’ herbs from Eu Yan Sang.

The STOMPer, a loyal Eu Yan Sang customer for a very long time, also added that with so many food scandals involving China last year, this incident must not be taken lightly.

STOMP contacted Eu Yan Sang and this was their response:

“We are in the process of conducting an investigation into Mr Roy Chiu’s complaint. We have written to Mr Chiu (copy enclosed herewith for your attention) requesting more information and evidence which he said he has kept to aid and facilitate our investigation. We also assured Mr Chiu that we take all feedback from our customers very seriously.

“The quality control and safety of our products are the foremost concern of Eu Yan Sang. Even though this is an isolated case, as a precaution, we are taking proactive steps to re-examine the contents of every pack of Xia Ku Cao herbs that we carry in our retail outlets with immediate effect.

“We import Xia Ku Cao raw herbs from China through our supplier who repacks them in Singapore for sale in this market. Although we believe that there are adequate checks in place, we shall appoint an independent accredited 3rd party auditor to investigate and check all repackaging procedures to further assure consumers of quality control.

‘Eu Yan Sang Singapore sold tens of thousands packets of this herb over the years and this is the first time we have had a complaint of such a nature.

“As a company we have led the TCM industry in introducing world class standards of manufacturing and preparation of TCM products, we are very aware of food safety requirements and take proactive measures to ensure the safe consumption of our TCM herbs and products.

“As soon as we have further findings, we will update you together with the accredited 3rd party auditor’s report.”

> “This China brand cigarette butt was in my Eu Yan Sang herbs!”

This cigarette butt, marked with Chinese characters that show it’s Chinese origin, was found in a bag of ‘Xia Ku Cao’ herbs from Eu Yan Sang by STOMPer Roy.

Shocked by his disgusting find the STOMPer wrote:

“I found this discarded cigarette butt in a bag of ‘Xia Ku Cao’ herbs from Eu Yan Sang.

“In one of the photos, you can clearly see some Chinese characters on the filter. I believe that means that the cigarette butt originated from China.

“Most people regard Eu Yan Sang as one of the most trusted brands for traditional Chinese medicine.

“Eu Yan Sang has a long list of awards on their website and even acquired ISO certification in 2002 in recognition of their excellent manufacturing practices and quality control. This means many consumers will assume it’s totally safe to consume products from Eu Yan Sang.

“I have been a loyal customer of theirs for a very long time and, until now, have put total trust in their products.

“With so many food scandals involving China last year however, this incident must not be taken lightly.

“I expect Eu Yan Sang to step up their quality control in their overseas factories, especially since many of their ingredients are sourced from China.

“This incident has taught me to be more careful, even when consuming products from a trusted brand from Singapore.”