Compiled by SALMA FAIRUS, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
A BITTER memory that remains vivid after 49 years – that is how army veteran Hamidun Kamis recalls the incident where he lost his left leg after stepping on a booby trap in 1970.
The horrific incident occurred when he was 20 years old, during a patrol in a forested area near the East-West Highway, close to Tanah Merah, Kelantan.
“My platoon mates and I were on our second patrol, and on our way back, I stepped on a booby trap,” Hamidun recounted to Utusan Malaysia.
“I was thrown off my feet and my left leg was badly injured, down to the heel.”
Covered in blood, Hamidun, 74, said he had to be carried by his comrades to their base camp.
“It felt like my life was hanging by a thread.”
He now relies entirely on a prosthetic leg to move around.
He said replacement of the prosthetic is done every three years with government assistance but the process is not easy.
“I have to contact the hospital and wait for a letter.
“If the allocation has already run out, then I have to wait and this means I have to incur additional travel expenses.”
> Ever since her husband had a stroke last year, Noor Sawatry Dinar, 40, and the couple’s five children have been forced to live in an abandoned house near Jalan Seelong Jaya in Johor, Kosmo! reported.
The family eat only whatever is available to them, which includes vegetables foraged from the surrounding area.
“After my husband first fell ill, he was still able to work at a nearby stone factory.
“But after his second stroke last May, we lost our only source of income and could no longer afford the rent,” said Noor Sawatry.
She said they had no choice but to live in the abandoned house, adding that there is no electricity.
They were previously evicted from their home in Kempas, Johor, after being unable to pay the bills, following her husband’s condition.
“The four children aged between eight and 14 have not been to school for almost two months because we cannot afford to send them.”
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.
