Compiled by ZAKIAH KOYA, BEH YUEN HUI and R. ARAVINTHAN
TWO foreigners have been arrested for taking plant samples at Santubong National Park near Kuching, Sarawak, Sin Chew Daily reported.
The men, from Taiwan and China, respectively, were remanded to assist investigations under Section 26 of the National Parks and Nature Reserves Ordinance 1998.
Under the provision, it is an offence to collect or damage plants or remove any living or dead plant from a national park without permission.
“We are conducting further checks to determine the species of the plants and their conservation status,” the corporation said.
> The daily also reported that a mother seeking justice for her five-year-old daughter, who was labelled “wilful and demanding” in her medical record, was instead criticised for tarnishing the image of her city.
It began when the child developed an allergic reaction and was rushed to a community health centre in Huangpo town, Wuchuan city, in China’s Guangdong province, on the night of July 12.
Her mother, identified only as Peng, claimed that a doctor in the emergency department had refused to treat her daughter.
About a week later, Peng received an call informing her that her daughter’s electronic medical record had been marked “wilful and demanding”.
A Wuchuan health bureau official confirmed that the surgeon had entered the remark to avoid treating the patient again.
The official also said the incident had not caused physical harm to the child, while criticising Peng for making the matter public and saying it had tarnished the city’s image.
Last week, the remark was removed from the child’s medical record and the surgeon apologised to the family.
(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.)
