Compiled by BENJAMIN LEE, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
GLUTINOUS rice dumplings (bak chang) for the Dragon Boat Festival are expected to cost more as pork prices have skyrocketed after the African swine fever outbreak at local farms, Sin Chew Daily reported.
The meat is a key ingredient in the traditional Chinese delicacy, which is enjoyed during the festival taking place this Saturday.
Su Shu Ling, a vendor of bihun at a wet market in Alor Star, has announced an increase in the price of dumpling from RM7 to RM7.50 this year.
“I’m selling bak chang on behalf of a friend. The cost of her ingredients has risen. So she has no choice but to increase the prices as well,” she said.
Another seller, Liu Jin Mei, has chosen to absorb the rising costs, explaining that she is able to do so because she makes the dumplings herself.
“My customers tell me that they have seen black glutinous rice dumplings being sold at RM10. I am keeping my price at RM9, just as I did last year,” she said.
> A seven-year-old boy nearly died during his birthday party after an uninflated balloon became lodged in his airway, China Press reported.
He had choked on the balloon, according to his mother, Nurul Huda Zulkhairi, who recounted the ordeal on social media.
She said that an aunt had noticed that the boy was having breathing difficulties just before he lost consciousness.
When CPR failed to revive him, he was rushed to Hospital Kulim, where doctors discovered the balloon.
“The doctor removed the obstruction and performed CPR,” she said, adding that her son is now in stable condition.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
